A First Day of Classes
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Accompany several teachers on selected days during the first week of classes in Harry's second year. Now with random POV chapters written by my readers! AU, partly OOC, de-aging, sick!Minerva/Severus/Harry, pairing: Severus/de-aged Minerva
1. Minerva's First Day of Classes

**A First Day of Classes**

**1 – Minerva's First Day of Classes**

"Mistress Minerva, it's time to get up," her personal house elf Mona's voice penetrated Minerva's ears, causing her to groan in exasperation.

After the Welcoming feast the previous evening, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, two second years and archenemies, had decided to meet on the Quidditch pitch for a night-time wizard's duel. The fight only ended when Hermione Granger, the most reasonable of her second year lions, had fetched her to stop the two boys, who were accompanied by all of their second year housemates. She had taken both boys to the hospital wing, where she had assisted Poppy, who healed all of their injuries until three o'clock in the morning. Considering the lack of sleep for both Poppy and herself, Minerva had been so enraged that she had taken one hundred points of each Gryffindor and Slytherin and had assigned the two main actors a detention with their respective Head of House.

'_Three and a half hours of sleep are definitely not enough_,' Minerva mused as she slowly scrambled out of her comfortable bed, on which the warm burgundy-coloured covers were she had received from Albus for her birthday a few years ago. She tiredly dragged herself into the bathroom, hoping that a long hot shower would help her to warm up and to get rid of the splitting headache, which was suddenly bothering her, probably due to the lack of sleep. Unfortunately, the shower did not have the required effects, and Minerva put a warm turtleneck jumper on, before she threw her green robes over her casual attire. Heading back to the bathroom, she spent a few minutes unsuccessfully skimming her potions shelf for a headache potion.

'_Oh no_,' she groaned in annoyance. '_I hope it'll go away by itself, so I don't have to see Poppy about it, earning myself a lecture about the proper amount of sleep and so on. As much as I like her, and she'll always be my best friend, but she seems incapable of understanding the work load of a Deputy Headmistress._'

"It's time to head to the Great Hall for breakfast," the portrait of Godric Gryffindor that was guarding the entrance to her personal quarters spoke up, causing her to sigh.

"Yes, thank you, Godric, I know that, but I still have to fetch the time tables from my office. I need to give them out to the Gryffindors at breakfast," Minerva replied in a slightly annoyed voice. She hurried through the connecting door into her office, grabbed a pile of parchments, and finally re-entered her living room when she heard a knock at her office door.

'_What is it now?_' she mused in exasperation, quickly returned to her office, and put her strictest expression on her face, before she opened the door and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Gilderoy Lockhart.

"Gilderoy," she acknowledged the man's presence, unwilling to move away from the door frame in order to keep her famous colleague from entering her office. "What's wrong?" she queried crisply, as if he was a troublesome student.

"Ah Minerva, I'm sorry to bother you, but," the man began to speak slowly, causing Minerva to impatiently tap her right foot on the floor.

"I'm sorry, Gilderoy, but I have to attend breakfast in the Great Hall in ten minutes," she urgently told the man, who threw her a huge smile, obviously mistaking her for one of his fans.

"Don't worry, Minerva, I won't keep you for long. I just happened to leave my time table in my classroom, and I'm sure the pixies will have eaten it by the time I get to class today. I stored them in the classroom for the second year Gryffindor and Slytherin students today. I need to teach them how I managed to..."

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I really don't have time," Minerva interrupted him in the voice she normally reserved for students, who came to serve detention with her. She turned around, summoned a parchment from her desk, and with a complicated movement made a copy of the schedule, thrusting it at her colleague. "If you would excuse me now," she said sharply, shutting the door into his face.

'_Albus must slowly be losing it, inviting such a fraud to teach at Hogwarts_,' she mused, before she left through the entrance door to her quarters, which was nearer to the Great Hall than her office door. On her way down to the Great Hall, she began to shiver in the cold air of the corridors and resolved to drink a cup of hot tea before heading to her House table. '_I can still give the timetables out in ten minutes_,' she decided, heading straight to her usual seat next to the Headmaster.

"Minerva," the Slytherin Head of House addressed her, before she could even pour herself the much needed cup of tea, "could you please explain why Slytherin lost one hundred points during the night and is starting the school year with negative points?"

"Don't sneer at me, Severus, I'm not one of your students in detention," Minerva replied sternly, reaching out for the tea pot and throwing the Headmaster a grateful nod when he poured out the tea for her. "Gryffindor received a one hundred point loss as well, if that consoles you. Malfoy and Potter fought a wizard's duel on the Quidditch pitch during the night, accompanied not only by their seconds, but by all of the second year Slytherins and Gryffindors."

"Ah, and who won the duel? I'm sure it was our famous Harry Potter, wasn't it?" a voice cheered from the other end of the Head table.

Minerva sighed in exasperation. "How could you hire that fraud?" she whispered to the Headmaster, deciding to ignore the question.

"Let's say we had to work on both of them until three o'clock in the morning," Poppy was kind enough to reply in her place, causing Minerva to thankfully glance at her best friend.

She hurriedly gulped down the hot liquid, feeling how the warmth spread through her body, and sighed in relief. She excused herself and headed to the Gryffindor table to give out the timetables, noticing contentedly that the second years seemed as tired as herself. '_I hope that'll teach them a lesson_,' she mused, resolving to have a small revenge by giving the second years take a pop quiz about their first year material, which most of them had probably forgotten at least some of it.

"Professor, how are we supposed to find the Potions classroom?" Ginny Weasley, one of her new first years, queried, causing Minerva to frantically search her mind for her own timetable.

"Ms. Granger, you have Transfiguration in your first class, don't you?" she asked, relatively sure about the matter.

"Yes Professor," Hermione replied politely, looking at her Head of House questioningly. "Shall I take the first years to the Potions classroom?"

"Yes please, Ms. Granger," Minerva told her thoughtfully, pondering if she'd have enough time to take her pop quiz afterwards, which in fact didn't matter at all, since she could be sure that the girl would receive an O for her work anyway.

"Minerva, you must come and eat breakfast," all of a sudden Rolanda Hooch's voice penetrated her ears. "Poppy is already beginning to throw a temper tantrum about your recklessness."

Minerva sighed. "Yes Rolanda, I'm coming." She walked back in the direction of the Head table, becoming aware of the fact that she didn't have any appetite due to the annoying headache. Noticing that Severus Snape was just on his way to leave the Great Hall, she hurried after her colleague, catching up with him just outside the doors. "Severus, I'm sorry to bother you, but do you by chance have a headache potion with you?"

The Potions Master threw her a piercing look. "Are you feeling all right, Minerva?" he queried in obvious concern.

"Apart from a splitting headache, which is probably caused by the lack of sleep, yes," Minerva replied honestly, glad that she could always tell her younger colleague the truth without having to fear that he'd fuss over her like Poppy or Albus would do.

"I'm not sure if it's only due to the lack of sleep," Snape told her thoughtfully, noticing that dark rings were surrounding her eyes and her cheeks were slightly flushed. Seeing that they were completely alone, he quickly pointed his wand at her head, before he summoned two potions phials from his private lab. "You're also running a slight temperature," he informed his colleague in his soft silky voice. "If this doesn't clear up until tonight, you'll have to go and see Poppy or come to me, although I can't promise that I'll be able to help you."

"Thank you, Severus," Minerva replied, handing the empty phials back, before she quickly re-entered the Great Hall and took a few bits of a slice of toast accompanied by another hot cup of tea.

"Are you feeling all right?" Poppy asked in concern, causing Minerva to nod innocently.

"Yes, Poppy, but I have to go. I'll see you at lunchtime." With that, she swiftly left the Great Hall, stepped into a dark alcove, and transformed into her feline form, before she took a few secret passages up to her classroom, which she approached after changing back into her human form.

Two minutes later, the second year Gryffindor and Slytherin students filed into the classroom, and Minerva greeted them with the announcement, "Since all of you obviously remembered your feelings towards the other House last night, I'd like to know how much of your first year Transfiguration class you still remember. Therefore, we're going to do a pop quiz. Please take an empty parchment and a quill; you won't need anything else during this class."

"But that's completely unfair, Professor," Millicent Bulstrode spoke up, fidgeting with her quill. "Only Draco and Potter duelled."

"You were all standing by, watching how they injured each other," Minerva replied sternly. "You're as guilty as Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy. Now let's commence."

"But Hermione isn't here yet, Professor," Ronald Weasley objected, while Harry obviously tried in vain to calm his friend.

"Ms. Granger will join us as soon as she arrives. I'm sure that she remembers everything anyway, apart from the fact that she doesn't have to take the test since she was reasonable enough to fetch me," Minerva returned briskly and began. "Question number one. State the incantation and the wand movement of the Switching Spell."

She dictated fifteen questions, pointing her wand at an empty parchment to record the questions for Hermione, who entered the classroom just as she was asking the fifth question, before she let herself sink onto her chair, noticing that the headache potion had only helped so much.

Her next students, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw first years, entered the classroom ten minutes too early, totally out of breathe and vehemently complaining about Professor Snape.

"Professor, he took fifty House points from Gryffindor!"

"And he took thirty points from Ravenclaw without any reason," the upset students informed her.

"We didn't do anything!"

"Is it true that he hates everyone except for the Slytherins?"

"I only asked a question and he already took points!"

Minerva sighed in annoyance as she explained to the excited children, "Professor Snape is very strict and he loves to take points. Therefore, you have to be very careful in his presence not to give him a reason for taking points off you. If you feel completely unfairly treated, please come to me or go to the Headmaster and explain to us in detail what happened. However, in spite of behaving as if he hated everyone except for the members of his own House, he is a very good person and the best Potions Master of our country since Salazar Slytherin, and I expect you to behave well in his class and to try not to lose points." Knowing that her few minutes of free time were over anyway, she immediately began to hold her normal speech that all the Hogwarts students heard in their first Transfiguration class.

While Minerva watched the students try to transfigure a match into a needle, she noticed that her throat was getting sore and that she was feeling worse by the hour. She sighed in relief when she dismissed the students, resolving to return to her private quarters and lie down for a while instead of attending lunch. However, she had just entered her private quarters when a knock at her office door made her return to her office.

It was Neville Longbottom. "Professor, can you please come to the hospital wing? Malfoy threw something in Hermione's potion, and now she's sporting green boils all over her body," he told her in a very excited voice.

"All right, Mr. Longbottom, thanks for informing me," she replied firmly and stepped out into the corridor to follow the boy into the hospital wing, knowing that Poppy would be able to cure the girl within an hour, but that Hermione would surely be very upset about the matter.

Minerva spent most part of her lunch break at Hermione's side, before Poppy threw her out when Harry and Ron returned from lunch, insisting she should attend lunch in the Great Hall as well. Not daring to object to Poppy, Minerva obediently dragged herself to the Great Hall and ate a few bites of lunch, ignoring her younger colleague. The Potions Master was watching her in concern and raised an eyebrow at her when she glanced in his direction. Only when he said casually, "I suspect I'll see you tonight after our detentions," she let out a small sigh and breathed, "I assume yes."

"Minerva, please note that we're going to have a staff meeting right after the last afternoon class," the Headmaster informed her gently, before he stood up and left the hall.

Suddenly Oliver Wood approached the Head table, throwing her a questioning look. "Professor, when can we hold the Quidditch tryouts?"

Now completely abandoning her lunch, Minerva waved her wand and mumbled an incantation, causing a tiny schedule to emerge from the tip of her wand. "You may hold the tryouts on Saturday next week at eleven o'clock. Don't forget to notify Madam Hooch and book the Quidditch pitch," she informed the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, before she rose from her seat and swiftly left the Great Hall.

Minerva struggled through the first afternoon class, glad that she could remain at her seat letting the seventh years practise to transfigure a cat into a monkey. She was just about to dismiss the students, slightly disappointed because none of them had managed the Transfiguration, when Neville hesitantly entered her classroom.

"I'm sorry to bother you again, Professor, but Professor Lockhart let pixies lose and told us to get rid of them, while he just left the classroom. Harry, Hermione, and Ron are trying to catch and vanquish them, but they're just too many, and the professor didn't even teach us a proper spell. Could you please come and help?"

"Of course, Mr. Longbottom," Minerva replied in a gentle voice, groaning inwardly as she dismissed the students, "Please write a three foot essay about the problems with the Transfiguration from one living object into another."

In the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, she ordered the Trio to step aside, before she waved her wand in a complicated movement, getting rid of all the pixies at once. "Where is Professor Lockhart?" she asked angrily, but was terrified when she noticed that her voice was beginning to fail.

"We don't know, Professor," Hermione informed her. "He told us to get rid of them and just left."

"Well, he's going to hear a mouthful later on in the staff meeting," Minerva mused aloud, causing her students to giggle.

"Pity that we can't listen in on the staff meeting; I'd love to hear Lockhart getting a dressing down by McGonagall," Minerva heard Harry say when she followed the students out of the Defence classroom, before hurrying back to her own classroom, where the next students were already waiting for her.

Minerva held her normal speech about the NEWT Transfiguration class to her sixth year students, before she let them practise transfiguring a plush cat into a real cat. She leaned back in her seat, pondering if she would have time enough to floo to the Potions classroom between the class and the staff meeting in order to get a Pepper Up potion from Severus. Unfortunately, the Headmaster upset her plans by sending her house elf Mona to her ten minutes before the end of the class, asking her to come to his office for a small talk as soon as possible.

Minerva sighed in annoyance as she dismissed the students and stepped into the fireplace, musing, '_I hope it'll be important_.'

"Ah Minerva, how good of you to join me," the Headmaster greeted her, offering her a lemon drop, which she took for once, hoping that it might soothe her sore throat, unaware of the surprised look her friend gave her. "I feel honoured, Minnie. This is the first lemon drop you took in at least ten years," he commentated, causing Minerva to glare at his twinkling eyes.

"I hope it's something important," she told her friend, intensifying her glare.

"Yes Minerva," Dumbledore replied, sighing. "This afternoon, I received several Howlers from concerned parents because of engaging Professor Lockhart as Defence teacher. I wish to hear your opinion."

Minerva let out a snort. "My opinion? Isn't it a bit late to ask for, Albus? Lockhart is a fraud, and you know it as well as I do. I already suggested weeks ago to invite Remus Lupin. He'd be a much better teacher." She told him what had happened in the Defence classroom in the afternoon, throwing the Headmaster a desperate look. "Albus, I won't do this again. The next time, I'm going to advise the students to leave the classroom and close the door behind them."

"I fully agree, my dear," Dumbledore replied, sighing. "All right, let's head to the staff meeting."

"Can you please keep me from losing my patience with that fraud?" Minerva asked, hating how hoarse her voice sounded.

"Well, it's no problem to tell the truth, Minnie. Maybe I really made a mistake."

Minerva wearily followed the man to the staffroom, letting her sink in one of the comfortable chairs in relief, and grateful nodded as Albus offered to pour her a cup of her favourite tea, glad that nobody else was in the staffroom yet. She held the cup with both hands, craving the warmth, as she leaned back, and closed her eyes to rest for a minute, unaware of the piercing look her old friend gave her.

"Minerva, are you getting ill?" he queried in a soft voice, just when Snape entered the room, smirking at her sight.

"I hope not," Minerva replied terrified, quickly moving her aching body into an upright sitting position, and took a sip of her tea, just when a knock at the door could be heard.

"Come in," Dumbledore shouted, and the Weasley twins appeared in the open door frame, causing Minerva to groan inwardly.

"The Slytherins are on the Quidditch pitch, although we booked it straight after the Welcoming feast last night," the twins complained, causing Minerva to set her cup down on the table and leave the comforting warmth of her chair, unobtrusively holding on to the table for a few seconds until a small bout of dizziness passed.

"Minerva, it's all right; I'll go," Snape offered, eyeing her in concern.

"You're not willing to decide a fight between our Houses fairly," Minerva snorted, hurrying to keep up with the man, who had obviously decided to join her.

"They want to show off their new brooms and to train their new Seeker. Unfortunately, both Seekers are in detention tonight, so that we can't ask one of the teams to train tonight," the younger colleague told her as he stopped walking in front of the stairs. "I'll advise them to fly together today, Minerva. Please go back. You look awful, and you won't make it through the rest of the day if you don't take it easy. I promise not to do anything to your little lions." He told her quietly, so that no one else could hear them.

"You're probably right, Severus. Thank you," Minerva replied gratefully as she hesitantly turned back to the staff room.

She had just taken a step in the direction of the staff room, an image of her hot cup of tea in the front of her mind, when Pomona's voice penetrated her ears. "Minerva, you must help me. Lockhart came to the green houses and tried to teach me how to do my job, ruining a few of my Mandrake babies on his way. Can you please tell him or ask Albus to instruct him not to ever set a foot into my green houses again?"

Minerva let out a sigh that quickly turned into a harsh cough. "I'll tell Lockhart," she promised, slowly stepping back into the staff room. She took a large sip from her cup of tea, while she unobtrusively put her right hand under the table and pointed her wand at the other end of the room, silently casting a spell, before she turned to her newest colleague, who had arrived in the meantime.

"Gilderoy, I'm sorry, but there seem to be pixies over there. Could you please vanish them, before they disturb our meeting?" she croaked.

"Of course, pixies are my speciality," her younger colleague cheered, rising from his chair. He turned to the far corner of the room and waved his wand, causing the pixies to spread all over the room. "Ah, I believe my wand has to be replaced," Lockhart offered, still wearing the same smile, which Minerva was sure not to be able to stand any longer. "Severus, could you please help with these pixies," he turned to his colleague, who just re-entered the room.

Severus glanced at Minerva, who unobtrusively shook her head, before he replied, "I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do with pixies. I thought that was in the second year's curriculum of the Defence Against the Dark Arts class though."

"Yes it is, but my wand is obviously malfunctioning," the Defence teacher cheered.

Snape frowned, raising his own wand against his colleague, and muttered, "Expelliarmus," catching the Defence teacher's wand in his left hand. "Excuse me, Professor," he sneered as he pocketed his own wand and took the other man's wand in his right hand, waving it at the pixies with a simple incantation on his lips. A mere second later, he handed the wand back, glancing around the pixie free room, and sneered, "Your wand works perfectly."

"I had to help my students get rid of the pixies in the Defence classroom," Minerva spoke up weakly, not finding the energy to give the man the dressing down Harry had expected her to.

Seeing that all the Heads of House had arrived in the meantime, Dumbledore officially began with the small staff meeting. "This is exactly what this staff meeting is about. Gilderoy, after receiving a bunch of Howlers from concerned parents, I feel the urge to make you show me a few of the spells, which you claim to be capable of. Since your wand is obviously working well, this shouldn't be a problem for you." Ignoring Minerva's snort, he began to test his newest teacher.

During the following thirty minutes, Dumbledore let Lockhart perform several spells, most of which the man wasn't capable of performing. "I believe I made a grave mistake this time," he finally concluded the test, conjuring parchment and a quill on the table. "Lockhart, I suggest you write your resignation immediately, otherwise I might feel inclined to report you to the Ministry of Magic."

While Lockhart obeyed, Dumbledore queried the four Heads of House if they could suggest someone adequate for the position. "Minerva already suggested Remus Lupin, and if none of you has a better idea, I'd like to invite the werewolf, provided that you'd be willing to brew the Wolfsbane potion every month, Severus?"

Seeing his colleagues nod, Dumbledore sighed. "Minerva, would you please write a letter to Mr. Lupin, inviting him to urgently contact me," he asked his Deputy Headmistress.

"Of course, Albus," Minerva sighed, not unhappy to have an excuse to miss dinner, considering that she was feeling horrible and not in the least hungry. She slowly returned to her office and wrote the letter to her former student Remus, hoping that he would agree to teach. '_Maybe we can somehow manage to break the charm that's on the position_,' she mused as she dragged herself to the owlery to send her letter, using one of the fastest school owls.

'_Only Potter's detention, and then I can go to bed_,' she thought in relief as she returned to her office just when the first students began to leave the Great Hall. Minerva poured herself a hot cup of tea, making herself as comfortable in her chair as possible, when Harry arrived. She offered the boy a cup of tea and a biscuit, before she handed him a few parchments and instructed him to write one hundred times, '_I must not participate in a wizard's duel without a teacher's supervision_.'

"All right, Professor," Harry said, beginning to write at once.

Minerva tried to focus on the grading of the second year's pop quiz, but she couldn't concentrate, and her eyes kept wandering to the child opposite her, noticing that he looked worse for the wear and kept rubbing his forehead just like herself.

"Mr. Potter, are you feeling all right?" she queried in concern.

"I'm fine," the boy replied. "I just have a bad headache ever since the duel."

'_He doesn't only have a headache. His eyes are glazed over as if he was having a fever_,' she mused and, probably because of feeling sick herself, took pity on the child.

"Mr. Potter, you may stop writing now. It's already near curfew anyway, but I want you to remain for a moment so that Madam Pomfrey can quickly check on you, before you return to your common room. Let's see if she has time to come over." She stepped in front of the fireplace and called her friend, before she returned to her seat, throwing Harry a comforting smile.

Seconds later, the Mediwitch stood next to Minerva's desk, waved her wand several times and clucked disapprovingly, muttering to herself, "Forty degrees, that's unbelievable."

"Why don't you tell anyone if you feel sick, Harry? You can't run around the castle with forty (one hundred and four) degrees of fever," Minerva spoke up in a soft voice.

"No Minerva; that was your own temperature. Mr. Potter also has a fever along with a slight concussion, but it's two degrees lower. However, you have the wizard's flu, and you're both going to come with me to the hospital wing."

"I'm fine," Minerva and Harry protested simultaneously, causing the Mediwitch to snort, looking at the two Gryffindors' flushed faces.

Pomfrey threw both of them a menacing glare that made them grudgingly follow her in the direction of the hospital wing. They had just passed the entrance hall when Hermione stormed into the castle, running after them.

"Professor McGonagall," she panted. "They're doing it again. Crabbe and Nott are fighting against Ron and Seamus."

Minerva sighed in exasperation and turned around, completely ignoring Poppy's threat to kill her as she followed the girl out onto the grounds. Not noticing that Hermione returned into the castle as soon as she stepped outside, Minerva dragged herself to the Quidditch pitch, where the four boys were indeed fighting under the watchful eyes of their classmates.

"What do you think you're doing?" she shouted, noticing in horror that her voice failed completely and only came out as a croak. Sighing in exasperation, she turned to the spectators first, ordering them to go back to their Houses instantly, glad when the students complied without as much as a word in spite of the fact that she could only whisper her instructions.

Unfortunately, the fighting students were so engrossed in their duel that they didn't realize their lack of spectators and couldn't hear Minerva, who sighed in desperation and just resolved to raise her wand at the students when a tall black figure stepped next to her, comfortingly laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Easy, Minerva," Snape said in his soft silky voice, gently steadying her, before he shouted, "Crabbe, Nott, Weasley, Finnegan, stop this immediately." Seeing that the four students interrupted their fight, looking at him in horror, he ordered them to return to their common rooms immediately. "We're going to speak about this tomorrow. Detention in my office right after dinner," he bellowed, before he turned back to his older colleague.

"Minerva, you're ill, and I'm going to take you to the hospital wing," he announced softly, observing her in concern when she agreed and heavily leaned onto his arm as they slowly made their way to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey was already waiting for Minerva, pointing to the bed next to Harry's.

"I'm fine; I'm just a bit tired because of the lack of sleep," Minerva protested hoarsely, causing Poppy and Severus to snort. "Oh no," Minerva groaned as she let herself sink on the bed. "Look, Severus, there are more pixies. Could you get rid of them please?"

"Yes Minerva, I'll do that," Snape promised softly, throwing the Mediwitch an alarmed glance.

"Don't worry, Minnie, everything is all right, you're just a bit delirious," Pomfrey said in a gentle voice, spelling several potions into her friend's system, causing Minerva to become incredibly tired.

"That was a long first day of classes," Minerva croaked, while she slowly drifted off into a blissful healing sleep as the huge clock on the clock tower stroke midnight.

_

* * *

tbc…_

_Thanks to Maritime Stars for beta-ing. _

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	2. Severus’ First Day of Classes

**2 – S****everus' First Day of Classes**

Severus glanced at the numbers that were displayed on the ceiling by a permanent tempus charm, seeing that it was ten minutes past five. '_The right time to get up_,' he mused, abandoning his green silky covers, and rose from his bed. Twenty minutes and a hot shower later, he entered his office to check once more the time tables Minerva had provided him in the staff meeting the previous day. '_Of course Minerva is very diligent, and so far I never found a mistake in the time tables, but who knows_,' he mused, noticing in surprise that his colleague had gone away from her usual pattern of pairing Slytherin with Gryffindor. The new Slytherin first years had some classes together with Gryffindor, but others with Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. '_Oh, Slytherin and Hufflepuff are together in Potions; that might be quite pleasant_,' he thought, appreciating his colleague's idea.

Severus sobered instantly though when his eyes fell on the miniature version of the Hourglasses on his desk. '_Slytherin lost one hundred points over the night_?' he saw, horrified. '_What can have happened during the night_?' He pointed his wand at the Hourglass for the details to be shown, noticing that Minerva had taken the points at three o'clock in the morning. Cancelling the spell, he saw that Gryffindor was one hundred points in the negative as well and slightly relaxed. '_In contrary to the Headmaster, she is fair_.'

Placing a shrinking charm on the time tables, he entered his classroom in order to prepare everything for the first class, so that the students wouldn't be bothered with pre-heating the cauldrons and other preparatory work but could concentrate on preparing the ingredients and brew their potions.

At half past six, he entered the Slytherin common room to check on his little snakes, finding the House quieter than normal at that time in the morning. Only the Quidditch team was assembled in front of the fireplace.

"Good morning," Severus greeted his students.

"Good morning, Professor Snape," the students replied politely. "Professor," Marcus Flint, the Quidditch captain spoke up, seemingly annoyed, "we wanted to try our new brooms and train Draco, but the second years won't get up. I tried to wake Draco, but he told me he only slept for three hours and wouldn't get up right now."

Severus thought for a moment, pondering if he should go and wake his godson, but dismissed the thought quickly. "Do any of you know what happened during the night that caused our House to lose one hundred House points?" he queried in a stern voice, smirking as a heated discussion broke out among his team members.

"We have no idea," Marcus finally replied.

"That's probably the reason why none of the second years are up and about at this time of the morning," Severus smirked. "You can still train Draco after classes or in the evening. Ask Madam Hooch at breakfast if you can book the Quidditch pitch for the next three nights," he advised his students, before he turned and left the common room for a quick look into the dormitories to see if everything was all right.

Apart from the second year boys' dormitory, in which everyone was still asleep, most of his students were already up and about. Severus always felt a bit uncomfortable entering the girls' dormitories and frequently advised the female students to change their clothes behind the curtains surrounding their beds that left enough space for one person to dress herself, but he always wanted to check on all of his students once in the morning and if possible once after curfew. Therefore, after checking the boys' dormitories and personally handing out the time tables except for those of the second years, which he distributed with a wave of his wand, he hesitantly knocked at the door of his second years.

"Oh Professor, it's good that you're here," Pansy Parkinson shouted, pulling him into the dormitory. "We think Millicent is ill. She says her head hurts, and she feels a bit warm to the touch."

Severus frowned. '_It's only the first day of classes_,' he thought as he approached the girl's bed, seeing immediately that the girl was sick. Her cheeks were flushed and pearls of sweat on her forehead made her hair strangely stick to her forehead.

"What's wrong Millicent?" he queried in his soft silky voice, causing the girl to look at him with glassy eyes.

"My head and my throat hurt," she whispered.

Severus waved his wand over the child, casting two diagnostic spells, which told him that the girl was suffering from a cold and not from the flu. He pointed his wand at her head to check her temperature and lit the tip of his wand to look into her mouth and her ears.

"You have a cold and are running a temperature. I'll give you a dose of Pepper Up potion, and I hope that it'll clear it up." He summoned a phial from his Potions lab and gently steadied the girl's back, so that she could drink the potion.

"Stay in bed for a few minutes. I'll be back shortly, and then we'll see if you can get up or if I have to take you to the hospital wing," Severus said softly, taking the empty phial back.

Fortunately, in the other dormitories everything was as it should be, and ten minutes later, Severus left Slytherin House after once more checking on Millicent and leaving her with the instruction to get up if she felt well enough and to come to see him straight after dinner, because she might need another dose of the potion.

When he arrived in the Great Hall, most of his colleagues were already assembled, unfortunately not Minerva, whom he couldn't wait to ask about the nightly incident. Finally, ten minutes later, his older colleague arrived with the timetables on her arm, but instead of giving out the timetables like Severus remembered she normally did, she headed straight to her usual seat next to the Headmaster.

"Minerva," Severus addressed her urgently, "could you please explain why Slytherin lost one hundred points during the night and is starting the school year with negative points?"

"Don't sneer at me, Severus, I'm not one of your students in detention," Minerva replied sternly, reaching out for the tea pot but looked back at him when the Headmaster poured out the tea for her. "Gryffindor received a one hundred point loss as well, if that consoles you. Malfoy and Potter fought a wizard's duel on the Quidditch pitch during the night, accompanied not only by their seconds, but by all of the second year Slytherins and Gryffindors."

"Ah, and who won the duel? I'm sure it was our famous Harry Potter, wasn't it?" Lockhart's voice cheered from the other end of the Head table, nearly making Severus gag.

Severus sighed in exasperation, smirking when he heard Minerva whisper to the Headmaster, "How could you hire that fraud?"

"Let's say we had to work on both of them until three o'clock in the morning," Poppy replied in Minerva's place, causing Severus to throw a concerned look at the Slytherin table, sighing in relief when he saw Draco sit there together with his friends.

"What does Minerva think she's doing?" all of a sudden Poppy's angered voice penetrated his ears, and Severus noticed that her colleague had gone to give out the timetables after merely drinking her tea without eating anything.

'_Thank God, that takes Poppy's attention away from my breakfast_,' Severus mused and stood up to leave the Great Hall. However, he had only barely left the hall when Minerva caught up with him.

Minerva stood next to him, sighing. "Severus, I'm sorry to bother you, but do you by chance have a headache potion with you?"

Severus threw her a piercing look. "Are you feeling all right, Minerva?" he queried in concern, noticing that dark rings were surrounding her eyes and her cheeks were slightly flushed.

"Apart from a splitting headache, which is probably caused by the lack of sleep, yes," Minerva replied honestly, causing Severus to smirk.

'_Somehow, Minerva is always ready to tell me the truth, which she'd never do in front of Poppy or Albus_,' he mused. "I'm not sure if it's only due to the lack of sleep," he told her thoughtfully, and seeing that they were completely alone in the corridor, he quickly pointed his wand at her head, before he summoned two potions phials from his private lab. "You're also running a slight temperature," he informed his colleague in his soft silky voice. "If this doesn't clear up until tonight, you'll have to go and see Poppy or come to me, although I can't promise that I'll be able to help you, depending on what is ailing you."

"Thank you, Severus," Minerva replied as she handed the empty phials back.

"You're welcome, Minerva," he said gently, not sure if the woman had heard what he said, before he headed down to the dungeons.

Right in time for the first class to begin, the second year Know-it-all Granger brought the first year Gryffindors to the classroom, while the Ravenclaws showed up one by one. Three of them managed to be late for the class, causing him to angrily sneer at the students.

"Ten points each from Ravenclaw for your tardiness," he bellowed, causing the students to anxiously take a seat.

During his traditional speech for the first years, one of the annoying Gryffindors felt inclined to interrupt him twice, which caused the loss of twenty House points from Gryffindor, and in the course of the brewing of the simplest potion he could offer, the Gryffindors managed to lose another thirty points for their incompetence.

Severus was glad when the class was over, musing, '_Maybe it wasn't so bad to have the Gryffindors together with my little snakes after all. I'll have to discuss this with Minerva some time_.'

However, during the next class, which was the class of the second years Slytherins and Gryffindors, he had to re-consider his opinion on the matter. He wasn't a hundred percent sure what happened, but apparently Draco threw something in Granger's potion, and he heard Millicent and Pansy whisper that it was his revenge, because she had called McGonagall during the night, who had ended Draco's duel with Potter. Anyway, Granger was hit with her exploding potion and was sporting green boils all over her body.

"Potter and Weasley, take Granger to the hospital wing," he instructed the girl's friends, banishing their potions, before they could think about protesting against his decision. Seeing that only ten minutes were left until the end of the class, Severus cast an Evanesco spell on all the remaining cauldrons and dismissed the students, giving them a three foot essay on the danger of throwing objects into cauldrons as homework.

"Professor, McGonagall assigned me a detention with you for tonight," Draco informed him, while the others already filed out of the classroom.

"Very well, Mr. Malfoy," Severus replied in a voice laced with annoyance, "come right after dinner."

'_This class is a nightmare_,' he mused, while he strode to the Great Hall, wondering how the fraud Lockhart had gotten along with his classes. However, at lunch, his attention was once more drawn to Minerva, who looked absolutely ill. Her cheeks were deeply flushed in her pale face, and her eyes were glazed over feverishly. '_She can be lucky that Poppy is absent, probably fawning about Ms. Granger_,' he smirked. '_Otherwise she'd take her to the hospital wing immediately_.'

Severus watched her in concern, raising an eyebrow at her. When he finally managed to capture her attention, he said casually, "I suspect I'll see you tonight after our detentions."

Minerva let out a small sigh and breathed, "I assume yes," before she continued to push her food around her plate.

"Minerva, Severus, please note that we're going to have a staff meeting right after the last afternoon class," the Headmaster informed them gently, before he stood up and left the hall.

'_Just what I needed after a day of teaching dunderheads_,' Severus thought in annoyance. '_He could at least tell us what the meeting is about_.'

"Professor, when can we hold the Quidditch tryouts?" suddenly Oliver Wood approached the Head table, throwing Minerva a questioning look.

'_These dunderheads should learn that they have to leave us in peace at least at mealtimes_,' Severus thought unnerved as he abandoned his meal and strode back to his classroom. Fortunately, his two afternoon classes went smoothly, and he was in a good mood as he headed to the staff room, wondering what the meeting was about.

When he entered the staff room, only the Headmaster and Minerva were present yet. Minerva seemed to be half asleep in one of the comfortable seats, while Albus was sitting next to her, watching her in obvious concern.

"Minerva, are you getting ill?" the Headmaster queried in a soft voice, causing Severus to roll his eyes at her sight.

"I hope not," Minerva replied terrified, quickly moving her aching body into an upright sitting position, and took a sip of her tea, just when a knock at the door could be heard.

"Come in," Dumbledore shouted, and the Weasley twins appeared in the open door frame, causing Severus to groan inwardly.

"The Slytherins are on the Quidditch pitch, although we booked it straight after the Welcoming feast last night," the twins complained, causing Minerva to set her cup down on the table and stand up.

Seeing his colleague hold on to the table for a few seconds, obviously feeling dizzy, Severus eyed her in concern and offered, "Minerva, it's all right; I'll go."

"You're not willing to decide a fight between our Houses fairly," Minerva snorted and feverishly tried to keep up with his pace.

'_I can't have her aggravate her condition even more_,' Severus decided and stopped walking in front of the stairs. "They want to show off their new brooms and to train their new Seeker. Unfortunately, both Seekers are in detention tonight, so that we can't ask one of the teams to train tonight," he told the woman, feverishly searching his mind for a solution. "I'll advise them to fly together today, Minerva. Please go back. You look awful, and you won't make it through the rest of the day if you don't take it easy. I promise not to do anything to your little lions."

"You're probably right, Severus. Thank you," Minerva replied gratefully as she hesitantly turned back to the staff room.

Severus strode out onto the Quidditch pitch with his robes dramatically billowing behind him. The Slytherins came over to him immediately, while the lions backed off angrily. Severus waved the Gryffindors over and hissed at the crowd, "Now behave yourselves, all of you. The Gryffindors booked the pitch, but the Slytherins need to train their new Seeker. Since the Seekers of both teams are in detention tonight, both teams only have the possibility to fly now. Therefore, I suggest that you get a grip on yourself and fly together. Do a spontaneous match if you wish. I am not willing to listen to any complaints at dinnertime without taking another one hundred points from each House. Do you understand me?" he queried, underlining his point with a menacing glare in all directions.

"Yes Professor," Draco and Potter replied, apparently understanding that it was their fault, because they had to serve detention in the evening.

"Very well Draco and Mr. Potter. I make the two of you responsible for this training. See to it that your teams don't fight with each other."

"All right sir," Draco replied, smirking.

"Yes sir," Potter gave back, fiercely rubbing his forehead.

For a few seconds, Severus observed the boy's flushed cheeks, thinking unconsciously, '_He'll probably be the next to get ill_.' Sighing, he headed back to the staffroom, immediately noticing that part of it was full of pixies.

"Gilderoy, I'm sorry, but there seem to be pixies over there. Could you please vanish them, before they disturb our meeting?" Minerva croaked as Severus closed the door behind himself.

"Of course, pixies are my speciality," the fraud cheered with his abnormal smile, rising from his chair. He turned to the far corner of the room and waved his wand, causing the pixies to spread all over the room. "Ah, I believe my wand has to be replaced," Lockhart offered, still wearing the same smile, which Severus was sure not to be able to stand any longer. "Severus, could you please help with these pixies," the fraud turned to him.

Severus glanced at Minerva, who unobtrusively shook her head, before he replied, "I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do with pixies. I thought that was in the second year's curriculum of the Defence Against the Dark Arts class though."

"Yes it is, but my wand is obviously malfunctioning," the Defence teacher cheered.

Severus frowned, raising his own wand against his colleague, and muttered, "Expelliarmus," catching the Defence teacher's wand in his left hand. "Excuse me, Professor," he sneered as he pocketed his own wand and took the other man's wand in his right hand, waving it at the pixies with a simple incantation on his lips. A mere second later, he handed the wand back, glancing around the pixie free room, and sneered, "Your wand works perfectly."

Seeing that all the Heads of House had arrived in the meantime, Dumbledore officially began with the small staff meeting. "This is exactly what this staff meeting is about. Gilderoy, after receiving a bunch of Howlers from concerned parents, I feel the urge to let you show me a few of the spells, of which you claim to be capable. Since your wand is obviously working well, this shouldn't be a problem for you." Ignoring the other teachers' snorts, he began to test his newest teacher.

During the following thirty minutes, Dumbledore let Lockhart perform several spells, most of which the man wasn't capable of performing. "I believe I made a grave mistake this time," he finally concluded the test, conjuring parchment and a quill on the table. "Lockhart, I suggest you write your resignation immediately, otherwise I might feel inclined to report you to the Ministry of Magic."

While Lockhart obeyed, Dumbledore queried the four Heads of House if they could suggest someone adequate for the position. "Minerva already suggested Remus Lupin, and if none of you has a better idea, I'd like to invite the werewolf, provided that you'd be willing to brew the Wolfsbane potion every month, Severus?"

Severus sighed inwardly but knew better than to protest against something, which the Headmaster had obviously already decided, and nodded his agreement, causing Dumbledore to instruct Minerva to contact Lupin. '_Well, of course it's annoying to brew the Wolfsbane every month and to make sure that he drinks it, but Lupin can't be worse than Lockhart_,' he mused, while he accompanied his colleagues to dinner.

From his seat at the Head table, he looked at the Slytherin table searching for his godson. Draco sat together with the other members of the Quidditch team, and all of them were eagerly tucking in. '_Well, it can't have been so bad_,' Severus mused, turning his eyes to the Gryffindor table. Potter was sitting between Granger and Weasley, playing with his food. 'He is ill and belongs into bed,' Severus noticed, wondering if Minerva was too ill herself to notice that she had to send the child to the hospital wing when he suddenly became aware of the fact that Minerva was skipping dinner completely.

Before he knew what he was doing, he walked behind the Gryffindor table standing behind Potter and sneered, "Did the loss of your match cause you to lose your appetite, Potter? If not I suggest that you stop playing with your food and eat. One could assume that you were ill."

"We didn't lose. Harry won against Malfoy three times," the Weasley twins informed him in their too cheery voices, and Severus quickly left the Great Hall and returned to his office, using the time while he waited for Draco to show up for his detention to prepare the next day's classes.

Only seconds later, there was a knock at his door when he shouted, "Come in," Millicent entered his office. '_Oh, I completely forgot about her_,' Severus mused, motioning the girl to take a seat. "How are you feeling, Ms. Bulstrode?" he queried softly, pointing his wand at her head to check on her.

"Better, sir," the girl replied hesitantly, throwing him a shy glance when he raised an eyebrow.

"You're certainly better than in the morning, but you're still running a temperature and you should go to bed right away," he informed her, handing her another Pepper Up potion. "We'll see how it is in the morning, but this should clear it up," he said soothingly, causing the child to sigh in relief.

"Thank you sir, good night," she replied gratefully, before she left his office.

A few hours later, he was just about to dismiss Draco, when he heard a faint knock at the door. The Granger girl stood in the doorframe, begging, "Please Professor, the second year boys of our Houses are fighting again. I already alerted Professor McGonagall, but she looks so ill and seems to have lost her voice completely. Could you perhaps go and make them end their fight?"

Severus groaned. "On the Quidditch pitch again?" he queried and hurried away, dismissing Draco as he left his office. Leaving the castle through the entrance doors, a bulk of students came into his direction. He let them pass, waiting to be sure that everyone had returned to the castle, when he noticed that the fight was still going on between Crabbe and Nott against Weasley and Finnegan.

Minerva was standing there, inefficiently trying to catch their attention, before she finally raised her wand at the students. Severus stepped next to her, comfortingly laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Easy, Minerva," he said in his soft silky voice, gently steadying her, before he shouted, "Crabbe, Nott, Weasley, Finnegan, stop this immediately." Seeing that the four students interrupted their fight, looking at him in horror, he ordered them to return to their common rooms immediately. "We're going to speak about this tomorrow. Detention in my office right after dinner," he bellowed, before he turned back to his older colleague.

"Minerva, you're ill, and I'm going to take you to the hospital wing," he announced softly, observing her in concern when she agreed and heavily leaned onto his arm as they slowly made their way to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey was already waiting for Minerva, pointing to the bed next to Harry's.

"I'm fine; I'm just a bit tired because of the lack of sleep," Minerva protested hoarsely, causing Severus and Poppy to snort. "Oh no," Minerva groaned as she let herself sink on the bed. "Look, Severus, there are more pixies. Could you get rid of them please?"

"Yes Minerva, I'll do that," Snape promised softly, throwing the Mediwitch an alarmed glance. '_She must have a very high fever if she's delirious like that_.'

"Don't worry, Minnie, everything is all right, you're just a bit delirious," Pomfrey said in a gentle voice, while she spelled several potions into his colleague's system, making her slowly drift off to sleep.

'_That was a long day_,' Severus mused as he strode back to the dungeons to quickly check on his little snakes, before he would finally be able to go to bed.

_

* * *

tbc…_

_Thank you so much for your kind reviews. __I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes. _

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	3. Harry's First Day of Classes

**3 – Harry's First Day of Classes**

Harry anxiously walked onto the Quidditch pitch as the huge clock on the clock tower stroke midnight. He was accompanied by his best friend Ron, and all of his Gryffindor second year classmates were following them, taking seats on the tribunes to witness the Wizard's duel between Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.

As soon as Harry entered the Quidditch pitch, Draco shouted something in his direction, which Harry didn't understand, and since he wasn't prepared to fight yet, he noticed too late that it was a spell and wasn't fast enough to put up a protection charm. Only when he felt his whole body hurt as if small cuts were covering his skin everywhere, he realized that he had been hit by a cutting curse.

"Expelliarmus," Harry shouted in Draco's direction, but the Slytherin countered the spell easily but shouting, "Protego."

For half an hour, the two boys fired spells and curses at each other, from which they both managed to duck away or put up their protection charms in time. However, the cuts covering Harry's body slowly began to sting, and Harry became unnerved and tired of the whole situation. '_Why in the world did I agree when Malfoy suggested the duel_?' he thought in desperation.

"Everte Statum," Draco shouted, while Harry was inattentive for a few seconds, causing the Gryffindor to be sent flying back a few metres, forcefully hitting his head on the ground.

Before he was even able to scramble back onto his feet due to the dizziness that overcame him promptly, Harry once more shouted, "Expelliarmus."

However, Draco used the same spell at the same time, causing both wands to move away from their owners' hands and crash into the ground, where they could hardly be seen in the weak light of the moon that was hidden by dark clouds.

'_I will not let him get away with that_,' Harry mused, trying to ignore the pain in his body, and began to attack Draco with his fists, managing to give him a few hard cuffs in the face, before Draco began to fight back.

By the time Harry had the impression as if it wouldn't take long, before he'd collapse on the ground, all of a sudden his Head of House's stern voice penetrated his ears, causing Harry to sigh in relief.

"Potter, Malfoy, stop this immediately," McGonagall shouted, sounding extremely angry.

Harry slowly dragged himself over to the professor, who in the meantime had shooed all the spectators back into the castle.

"Potter, Malfoy, follow me to the hospital wing," she ordered them briskly, before she walked ahead, unaware of the fact that Harry tentatively held out his hand to Draco, whispering, "Tie?"

"Tie," Draco replied, hesitantly shaking Harry's hand.

"Truce?" Harry queried in a soft voice.

"Truce," Draco confirmed quietly.

Together, they slowly dragged themselves to the hospital wing, where McGonagall had already alerted Madam Pomfrey, who made them lie down on two beds next to each other and waved her wand over Draco and Harry, before she turned to the professor.

"Minerva, can you please fetch a wet cloth and clean both of them?" she asked sternly, waving her wand at the boys, stripping them down to their boxers, before she made both of them drink a pain relieving potion. "Clean Mr. Malfoy first please, Minerva. I have to put ointment on Mr. Potter's cuts, which will take some time. You can help me with that afterwards."

As soon as McGonagall was finished cleaning Draco, she continued putting the ointment on Harry's skin, so that Madam Pomfrey could heal Draco's broken nose. Harry blushed deeply, realizing that his Head of House was seeing him nearly naked, only with his boxers on. Shivering violently, he feverishly tried to pull the bed covers over his body, but McGonagall pushed them back sternly.

"Are you cold, Mr. Potter?" she queried in a surprisingly gentle voice, causing Harry to nod. "Well, then let me put a warming charm on you," she decided, waving her wand at Harry, so that he didn't feel cold anymore.

It was three o'clock in the morning when Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall were finally finished treating Draco and Harry, and Harry was already nearly asleep.

"I should keep them here overnight," Pomfrey told the Gryffindor Head of House, who firmly shook her head.

"No Poppy, they'll both return to their dormitories right away, because I won't have them miss breakfast or even their first class tomorrow. By the way, boys, one hundred points each from Gryffindor and Slytherin, and tomorrow night you'll both have to serve detention with your Head of House," McGonagall said in a no-nonsense voice, waving her wand at the boys, so that they found themselves properly clothed again. "Now go back to your dormitories."

Harry and Draco hurriedly left the hospital wing, saying good night to each other, before they headed into opposite directions. The way up to Gryffindor tower seemed endlessly, and Harry let himself sink onto his bed without bothering to even change his clothes.

No time seemed to have passed when all of a sudden Ron's voice penetrated Harry's ears. "Harry, you have to get up, breakfast is going to begin in five minutes."

Harry blinked, noticing that he had a splitting headache and that the light of the early morning sun was definitely too bright. "Can you wake me up before the first class? I don't want breakfast, and I'm too tired."

"All right, mate; I'll collect your timetable for you," Ron promised, hurriedly leaving the room.

Harry had the impression that only seconds had passed when Ron shook his shoulder to wake him up again. "What do we have in our first class?" he queried, fiercely rubbing his forehead in an attempt to soothe the headache that had been bothering him since his duel with Draco during the night.

"Transfiguration," Ron replied, glancing at his schedule. "Are you all right, Harry, or shall I tell McGonagall..."

"Oh no, I'm coming," Harry said hurriedly, not wanting to draw his Head of House's attention on himself so soon after the disaster last night. "Did she notice that I wasn't at breakfast?" he asked anxiously, suddenly remembering the teacher's angry words about missing breakfast.

"No, she seemed to be very absent this morning. She even handed Hermione all of the second year's timetables," Ron replied, smirking.

'_Thank God_,' Harry mused and followed his friend out of the portrait hole. Harry and Ron slipped into the classroom right before McGonagall closed the doors and greeted them with an announcement.

"Since all of you obviously remembered your feelings towards the other House last night, I'd like to know how much of your first year Transfiguration class you still remember. Therefore, we're going to do a pop quiz. Please take an empty parchment and a quill; you won't need anything else during this class."

"But that's completely unfair, Professor," Millicent Bulstrode spoke up, fidgeting with her quill. "Only Draco and Potter duelled."

"You were all standing by, watching how they injured each other," Minerva replied sternly. "You're as guilty as Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy. Now let's commence."

"But Hermione isn't here yet, Professor," Ron objected, ignoring Harry's muttered, "Don't attract any attention to us please. Hermione knows everything anyway."

"Ms. Granger will join us as soon as she arrives. I'm sure that she remembers everything anyway, apart from the fact that she doesn't have to take the test since she was reasonable enough to fetch me last night," Minerva returned briskly and began. "Question number one. State the incantation and the wand movement of the Switching Spell."

'_The Switching Spell? What's that_?' Harry mused, trying hard to concentrate in spite of the annoying headache. The professor dictated fifteen questions, most of them Harry could answer somehow.

'_Potions next_,' Harry groaned as he tiredly dragged himself down to the dungeons, causing his friends to wait for him several times. Harry tried hard to concentrate on the brewing process, completely unaware of the fact that Draco obviously threw something in Hermione's potion. All of a sudden, the girl screamed in agony, and green boils were covering her whole body.

"Potter and Weasley, take Granger to the hospital wing," Snape's voice penetrated his ears, while at the same time the professor banished their potions, causing Harry to groan inwardly.

Harry and Ron took Hermione to the hospital wing, anxiously waiting aside as Madam Pomfrey nodded knowingly and made the girl drink a potion. "I'm going to keep you here for an hour, Ms. Granger. By then you should be completely back to normal and will be able to attend your afternoon classes." Turning to the boys, she continued in a firm voice, "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, your friend needs rest and you have to eat. Please attend lunch in the Great Hall. Afterwards you may come back and keep your friend company until I can release her."

Hermione was just released in time for the Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Harry groaned inwardly, exchanging an annoyed glance with Ron at their friend's enthusiasm towards the famous teacher with the stupid smile. '_I can't imagine that he'll be capable of teaching a good Defence class_,' Harry mused as he entered the room.

However, the class was even worse than Harry had imagined it to be. Professor Lockhart let pixies lose instructing the students to get rid of them without even teaching them a proper spell, before he simply left the classroom. Harry, Hermione, and Ron tried their best to catch and vanquish them, but all three of them sighed in relief as Neville returned with Professor McGonagall in tow, who waved her wand and got rid of all the pixies at once.

"Where is Professor Lockhart?" she asked angrily, sounding slightly hoarse.

"We don't know, Professor," Hermione informed her. "He told us to get rid of them and just left."

"Well, he's going to hear a mouthful later on in the staff meeting," Minerva mused aloud, causing her students to giggle.

"Pity that we can't listen in on the staff meeting; I'd love to hear Lockhart getting a dressing down by McGonagall," Harry said on their way to the History of Magic classroom for their last afternoon class.

'_Thank God Professor Binns won't notice anything anyway_,' Harry mused when he put his aching head onto the table and closed his eyes, only waking up when Hermione lightly shook his shoulder. "Harry, are you feeling all right?" she queried in concern, giving him a piercing look.

"I'm fine. I just have a terrible headache, probably from the lack of sleep," Harry replied in a slightly unnerved voice.

"Well, you have an hour until dinner. Go to bed and get some sleep; I'll wake you up in time for dinner," Hermione suggested, frowning when Harry lightly shook his head.

"No, we have Quidditch practice right now," he replied and hurried back to his dormitory to fetch his Nimbus 2000.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team met in the common room and walked down together, arriving on the pitch just in time when the Slytherin team made its appearance.

"I booked the pitch," Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor captain, announced, raising an eyebrow at the Slytherins.

"But we have to train our new Seeker and must test our new brooms," Marcus Flint, the other captain, gave back.

Expecting a never ending discussion, the Weasley twins hurried to the staff room, knowing that McGonagall would be there in a teachers' meeting, in order to fetch their Head of House. However, a few minutes later, the Slytherin Head of House appeared. Professor Snape strode onto the Quidditch pitch with his robes dramatically billowing behind him, causing the Slytherins to cheer, while the Gryffindors backed off angrily. '_Well, so much about Quidditch practice today_,' Harry mused, feeling half angry but half relieved since he didn't feel like flying at all. However, Snape waved the Gryffindors over.

"Now behave yourselves, all of you. The Gryffindors booked the pitch, but the Slytherins need to train their new Seeker. Since the Seekers of both teams are in detention tonight, both teams only have the possibility to fly now. Therefore, I suggest that you get a grip on yourself and fly together. Do a spontaneous match if you wish. I am not willing to listen to any complaints at dinnertime without taking another one hundred points from each House. Do you understand me?" he queried, underlining his point with a menacing glare in all directions.

"Yes Professor," Draco and Harry replied, understanding that it was their fault, because they had to serve detention in the evening, and remembering the truce they had promised each other during the night.

"Very well Draco and Mr. Potter. I make the two of you responsible for this training. See to it that your teams don't fight with each other."

"All right sir," Draco replied, smirking.

"Yes sir," Harry said, fiercely rubbing his forehead against the headache that seemed to become worse by the hour, unaware of the fact that Snape gave him a piercing look.

"Potter, let's do a match then," Draco suggested, and both of them coaxed their teams into flying.

Oliver released the Snitch, and they managed to do two matches, of which Gryffindor won both due to the fact that Harry caught the Snitch within minutes. As much as he normally loved flying, today Harry was relieved when the practice time was over and he could return to the castle. He pondered if he should skip dinner and go to bed, groaning inwardly as he remembered that he had to serve detention with his Head of House after dinner.

'_I better get over with this quickly_,' he mused and decided to attend dinner in order to know when McGonagall returned to her office, so he could serve and finish his detention as soon as possible. However, his Head of House was absent from the meal, causing Harry to regret that he had bothered to attend, while he sat between Hermione and Ron, playing with his food.

He didn't notice the concerned look Snape was shooting at him, but he nearly jumped from his seat startled when the professor suddenly stood behind him, sneering, "Did the loss of your match cause you to lose your appetite, Potter? If not I suggest that you stop playing with your food and eat. One could assume that you were ill."

"We didn't lose. Harry won against Malfoy three times," Fred and George informed the teacher, who after that quickly left the Great Hall.

'_Twice_,' Harry mused astonished, feeling too weak to object. "I'll see you later," he whispered to his friends and left as well, slowly dragging himself up the stairs to the Transfiguration teacher's office.

McGonagall offered Harry a cup of tea and a biscuit, before she handed him a few parchments and instructed him to write one hundred times, '_I must not participate in a wizard's duel without a teacher's supervision_.'

"All right, Professor," Harry said and began to write at once, not noticing that the teacher kept eyeing him in concern throughout the evening.

"Mr. Potter, are you feeling all right?" she finally queried.

"I'm fine. I just have a bad headache ever since the duel," Harry replied, ignoring the fact that he felt hot and cold at the same time and that he was slowly getting dizzy.

"You don't look as if you only had a headache, Mr. Potter. You may stop writing now. It's already near curfew anyway, but I want you to remain for a moment so that Madam Pomfrey can quickly check on you, before you return to your common room. Let's see if she has time to come over." She stepped in front of the fireplace and called the Mediwitch, before she returned to her seat, throwing Harry a comforting smile.

Seconds later, the Mediwitch stood next to Minerva's desk, waved her wand several times not only at Harry but also at the teacher and clucked disapprovingly, stating that they both were ill and had to accompany her to the hospital wing.

"I'm fine," Minerva and Harry protested simultaneously, causing the Mediwitch to snort, looking at the two Gryffindors' flushed faces.

Pomfrey threw both of them a menacing glare that made them grudgingly follow her in the direction of the hospital wing. They had just passed the entrance hall when Hermione stormed into the castle, running after them.

"Professor McGonagall," she panted. "They're doing it again. Crabbe and Nott are fighting against Ron and Seamus."

Groaning in exasperation at the news, Harry turned around to follow McGonagall out onto the grounds, but Pomfrey held his arm in a strong grip and demanded, "You'll come with me to the hospital wing at once."

Harry sighed in relief as his achy head made contact to the pillow. "You have a concussion and have to stay here for at least two days; no flying for a week," Pomfrey told him sternly, while she spelled several potions into his system, causing the pain and dizziness to slowly recede.

Harry was already half asleep when Professor Snape brought McGonagall to the hospital wing, and he only noticed wearily that Pomfrey made her lie down on the bed next to him when she muttered something about pixies.

_

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tbc…_

_Thank you so much for your kind reviews. I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes. _

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	4. Poppy’s First Day of Classes

**4 – Poppy's First Day of Classes**** – by ILoveHarryPotterWithAllMyHeart**

_ILoveHarryPotterWithAllMyHeart was so kind and wrote this chapter to fit into my story. Please enjoy!_

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Poppy Pomfrey was shaken awake lightly on the shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Minerva McGonagall standing over her bed.

"I'm sorry," she said while Poppy sat up, "Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter decided to have a duel at midnight!"

Poppy took her dressing gown from the end of her bed and put it over her night dress, "It's fine Minerva, I'm used to early wake up calls."

The two of them then rushed into the main hospital wing where Harry and Draco were standing near the entrance.

Yawning, Poppy tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and walked over to the mischievous boys.

"Lie down over there," she instructed, pointing to two beds.

"Minerva could you please fetch a cloth and clean both of them?" she asked her friend, who complied.

Poppy stripped the boys down to their underwear and summoned some pain relieving potions. She first helped Harry sit up to drink his and then Draco, both of whom sighed in relief.

"Clean Mr. Malfoy first please, Minerva. I have to put ointment on Mr. Potter's cuts, which will take some time. You can help me with that afterwards," she said after she placed the empty goblets onto the bedside table between them.

Poppy started putting the ointment onto Harry's skin thinking to herself, _'__I have lost count how many times Harry has been in here__.'_

As soon as Minerva finished cleaning Draco, Poppy gave the ointment to her and the cloth she had been using. She told Minerva to dab the cuts slightly and showed her how much liquid to use.

Poppy then moved on to Draco's broken nose. It took barley a second to fix but she had to put bandages on it to keep the position. The bones were still weak so it could be easily broken again with a slight knock, thanks to Harry's bone weakening charm.

Unfortunately, Draco was very fidgety when she was putting on the bandages and it was making her impatient.

"Keep still," she ordered strictly and Draco stiffened immediately. Poppy was quite proud of herself.

It was a while before Minerva and Poppy finished treating the boys but by the time they managed to complete the job, it was three o'clock in the morning. Seeing that Harry was barely able to keep his eyes open she turned to her colleague, "I should keep them here overnight."

However, Minerva shook her head, "No," she said firmly. "Poppy, they'll both return to their dormitories right away, because I won't have them miss breakfast or even their first class tomorrow. By the way, boys, one hundred points each from Gryffindor and Slytherin, and tomorrow night you'll both have to serve detention with your Head of House."

Rubbing her eyes, Minerva properly clothed them again before sending them back to their dormitories.

Poppy smiled at the two boys hurriedly leaving the hospital wing and turned to Minerva, "You really are quite strict sometimes."

"They deserve it," she replied, "They shouldn't have arranged a duelling match in the middle of the night."

The two women bade each other goodnight and went back to bed.

XXX

Poppy awoke to her usual morning alarm set to seven. Rubbing her eyes, she climbed out of bed and turned it off with her wand.

She dressed herself into one of the many white dresses in her wardrobe. Poppy then walked over to the large mirror and used a spell to tie her white apron at the back. While tying up her hair in a bun, she examined her reflection. She tutted at her tired looking face, which she hid with a glamour charm.

After washing her hands in the sink that also occupied the room, she put on her hat and walked, yet again, into the hospital wing.

There was only one student in there that morning, who was still fast asleep. It was a foolish second year Ravenclaw who thought they would try a stunt off the top of the Astronomy tower. Poppy had been very shocked when the second year was brought to the hospital wing by Professor Flitwick. He had been found halfway into a thorn bush unconscious with a terrible head injury.

Not wanting to wake him, she spelled a potion straight into his stomach and pulled up his bed covers that had slid off during the night.

Taking his temperature she recorded it on her clipboard that was kept in a pouch in her apron.

Poppy cast a spell to see what the time was and noticed that it was half past seven, so she walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

She never looked at the students when she walked into the Great Hall. Instead, she always took her place at the staff table next to Professor Flitwick and Hagrid.

"Morning," she greeted her fellow staff members.

"Good morning," squeaked Filius, along with Severus' and Albus' "Good Morning."

Rolanda smiled but Minerva didn't say a word or show any sign of seeing her at the table.

"Minerva, could you please explain why Slytherin lost one hundred points during the night and is starting the school year with negative points?" asked Severus who obviously had no idea what had gone on on the previous night.

"Don't sneer at me, Severus; I'm not one of your students in detention," was her reply.

While Albus poured her a cup of tea, Minerva continued, "Gryffindor received a one hundred point loss as well, if that consoles you. Malfoy and Potter fought a wizard's duel on the Quidditch pitch during the night, accompanied not only by their seconds, but by all of the second year Slytherins and Gryffindors."

"Ah, and who won the duel? I'm sure it was our famous Harry Potter, wasn't it?" cheered Lockhart.

Poppy sighed and rolled her eyes while Minerva whispered to Albus, "How could you hire that fraud?"

Deciding to answer Lockhart, Poppy said, "Let's say we had to work on both of them until three o'clock in the morning," which got her a friendly glance from Minerva.

Sipping her coffee, Poppy observed the students in the Great Hall, especially the ones who had been released from the hospital wing recently. However, she noticed that one Gryffindor was missing and that it was Harry.

_He's probably tired,_ she thought, while taking a slice of toast and buttering it. She started to feel quite angry at Draco and Harry now.

Minerva stood up from the teacher's table collecting the large pile of parchments and started to hand out the timetables. This wasn't like her. Usually Minerva would get over with it before eating breakfast.

Rolanda obviously saw how concerned she looked and called Minerva back, who was having a conversation with Hermione and Ginny. The normally stern Transfiguration teacher hurried back and sat down eating very little.

When Poppy was just about to leave for the hospital wing again she spoke to Minerva, "Are you feeling alright?"

She nodded, "Yes, Poppy, but I have to go. I'll see you at lunchtime."

However, Poppy was still not convinced, but Minerva had already left for her first class.

Standing up, Poppy made her way out of the Hall and back up to the hospital wing.

She found that the Ravenclaw student was awake, so she called a house elf to make him eat some soup. He would probably be able to be released that evening, seeing that he was practically at full heath again, but she always wanted to make sure.

After she had seen to her patient, Poppy made her way to her office which was right next to her bedroom. She washed her hands once more and began pouring over a pile of folders.

Each folder was for a different student and she listed each illness or injury and the dates of when they were in the hospital wing on different parchments. She would then put them in the folder. Unfortunately, she had been very busy lately and had not had a chance to put them in alphabetical order.

Poppy filled in a new parchment for the Ravenclaw student and found the folder for him. She put it in there making sure it was in the right order and continued to sort out the folders that were still lying on her desk.

Luckily, she finished just before lunch so she went to check on the Ravenclaw, got his lunch and then headed down for some of her own.

Just as she got through the door she bumped into Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Ron sighed in relief before he started explaining what happened, "Draco put something in Hermione's potion and it exploded all over her."

"Dear, dear," said Poppy bending down to support Hermione, who was leaning on Harry for support.

She helped her over to a bed where she gently laid Hermione down. In the middle of scanning her to see what the damage was, Minerva entered to hospital wing followed by Neville.

Minerva walked over to Hermione who was crying silently and started comforting her with Ron and Harry. Near the end of lunch Harry and Ron left leaving Minerva, who was still sitting by her student.

"You should go and have lunch Minerva," said Poppy sternly.

Knowing how angry Poppy could get, Minerva left the hospital wing while Poppy turned to Hermione.

"Dear, you can go if you wish but if you still don't feel very well you are welcome to stay."

"I'm feeling much better, thank you Madame Pomfrey, but I think I'll return to my lessons now," the young witch answered.

Poppy nodded, "Well if you do happen to feel off colour please don't hesitate to return."

Hermione left to see if she could catch a bite to eat while Poppy made her bed and cleaned the covers with 'scurgify'.

She looked at the time again to see that lunch was over. She sighed, feeling quite hungry, so she called one of the house elves to make her something to eat.

Returning to her office to see if there was anything she needed to do, she remembered the staff meeting later. Remembering that it was for teachers only, she didn't worry about it.

About half way through the afternoon there was a knock on her office door. Poppy jumped up from her chair and hurried over to the door.

A first year Huffelpuff student and Professor Sprout was standing there. The girl seemed dazed and she was rubbing her left hand crying.

"Venomous tentaculars bite." Professor Sprout reported.

Poppy pitied the girl and rushed her over to a bed where she sat looking very dizzy and upset.

"There, there," Poppy comforted "You'll be fine in no time."

The girl sniffed and looked at her worriedly.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt," Poppy assured her. "You might stay dizzy for a while though."

Poppy got out her wand and healed the girl's hands. She then fetched some potions for her to try and remove the mild poisoning from the plant that had made her dizzy.

The girl stayed in the hospital wing and eventually fell asleep. When lessons had finished, she released the girl and her other Ravenclaw patient.

"Now be more careful!" she warned the Ravenclaw boy. "I don't want you in here again with another injury like that. You were very lucky."

The boy left and after an hour Poppy was disturbed yet again when Minerva contacted her in the fireplace opposite her desk.

"Poppy, you must come quickly!" said her friend anxiously. "I think Harry is ill."

Poppy stood from her chair and walked through into the classroom. She rushed to Harry's side before you could say Healer.

She waved her wand tutted at the high temperature. "40 (104) degrees, that's unbelievable." She said to herself.

"Why don't you tell anyone if you feel sick, Harry? You can't run around the castle with 40 (104) degrees of fever," said Minerva softly.

"No Minerva; that was your own temperature. Mr. Potter also has a fever along with a slight concussion, but it's two degrees lower. However, you have the wizard's flu, and you're both going to come with me to the hospital wing." said Poppy sneakily.

"I'm fine," the two Gryffindors said together making Poppy snort.

Poppy glared at them making them follow her to the hospital wing but they were stopped in the entrance hall when Hermione came rushing up to them panting.

"Professor McGonagall," she said. "They're doing it again. Crabbe and Nott are fighting against Ron and Seamus."

"Don't you dare go out Minerva!" Poppy threatened, but it was too late Minerva had already left.

Poppy sighed and took Harry to the hospital wing.

She gave him a fever reducer, pepper up potion and a sleeping draft. He was asleep within seconds.

Minerva soon came into the hospital wing, leaning on Severus for support.

"I'm fine; I'm just a bit tired because of the lack of sleep," Minerva protested hoarsely.

This made Severus snort as well as Poppy.

"Oh no," Minerva groaned as she let herself sink on the bed. "Look, Severus, there are more pixies. Could you get rid of them please?"

"Yes Minerva, I'll do that," Snape promised softly, before looking at Poppy anxiously.

"Don't worry, Minnie, everything is all right, you're just a bit delirious," Poppy said gently. She spelled some potions into her stomach making Minerva very tired.

"That was a long first day of classes," Minerva croaked, falling asleep.

Poppy smiled. It certainly had been a long day.

_

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tbc…_

_Thank you so much, ILoveHarryPotterWithAllMyHeart for writing this chapter!_

_Thanks to Maritime Stars for beta-ing._

_Thank you for your kind reviews! _

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	5. Severus’ Fifth Day of Classes

**5 – S****everus' Fifth Day of Classes**

Severus let out a relieved yawn as he quenched the flame under the cauldron, setting the finished Wolfsbane potion aside. He quickly waved his wand around his private lab, cleaning his work space in the blink of an eye. A glance on his wrist watch caused him to notice that it was already five o'clock in the morning.

'_Well, I'd better get some sleep, even if it's only for two hours_,' he mused as he retired to his bed-chamber, setting an alarm on his wrist watch on his way.

Two hours later, Severus couldn't believe how fast the time had passed. He dragged himself out of bed and took a long, refreshing shower, before he dressed himself and hurried into his classroom to prepare everything for his first class, knowing that he probably wouldn't have time to return earlier than at the beginning of the first class.

Fifteen minutes later, he headed through the connecting door into Slytherin House for a quick check on his students, glad that nobody seemed to have any problems this morning. Back in his quarters, he hurried to his potions lab to fetch a batch of potions he had brewed for the hospital wing the evening before. He stepped out into the corridor, shivering violently as the cold air of the dungeons hit his body. '_It shouldn't be so cold yet, considering that it's only the sixth of September_,' he mused, feeling extremely tired and even a bit listless as he climbed all the stairs up to the hospital wing.

Severus dropped the batch of flu potion on the desk in Madam Pomfrey's office, just when the Mediwitch entered her office. "Good morning, Severus. Thank you so much for the potion. Even if the house elves mixed the preventative flu potion in everyone's breakfast the other day, it might be that one or the other student might have caught it from Minerva, before the potion took effect."

"Hopefully not," Severus groaned, rubbing his forehead against the headache that was slowly building up behind his temples.

"Severus, are you feeling all right?" Pomfrey queried, giving him a sharp look.

"Yes Poppy, don't even think about getting your hopes up that I'd succumb to becoming a victim of your fussing," Severus gave back firmly. "I'm merely tired, because I had to brew the Wolfsbane potion until five o'clock this morning. How is Minerva, Poppy?" he asked in a much softer voice.

Poppy rolled her eyes at the man, whom she had known from the time when he came to her with a bad cold as a little tyke of eleven, watching in amusement as his expression turned from utter annoyance into concern for his favourite colleague. In spite of all their differences, Severus and her best friend Minerva were getting along so well that she sometimes wondered, if the two wouldn't have been a couple a long time ago if it weren't for the age difference. Of course, nobody except for her as the best friend to both of them knew about this. The teachers merely knew that they somehow got along in spite of being the Heads of the most rivalling Houses, and most of the students even believed that they hated each other.

"Minerva is much better today, Severus. Her fever came down nicely, and she feels better. Nevertheless, I'm going to keep her with me for another two days, before I even think about allowing her to go back to teach," she said softly, before she added, "You may visit her for a few minutes if you wish."

Severus slightly inclined his head and left the office, heading straight to Minerva's bed, which wasn't separated by the white curtain like it often was during the day when lots of students came into the hospital wing to receive any kind of treatment by Madam Pomfrey. Sitting down on the edge of her bed, he gently took her hand into his own, noticing that her skin felt much cooler than on the previous day.

"Good morning, Minerva," he said in his soft silky voice. "Are you feeling a bit better today?"

"Good morning, Severus. Yes, I feel much better today, and I can tell you know that if Poppy won't release me by tomorrow night, I'm going to release myself."

Severus smirked. "Well, it's good to see that your Scottish temper is back, Minerva. I'm sorry, but I have to run; I'll come by again later on," he promised, hoping to be able to keep the promise, and was about to stand up, when Minerva grabbed his arm, holding him back.

"Severus, I'm sorry, but you look awful. What's wrong? Are you getting ill, too?" she asked in concern.

Severus sighed. "I'm just tired, because I had to brew the Wolfsbane potion, but with introducing Lupin to the staff and everything else it was already late, before I could even get to it, so it took until five o'clock this morning."

"I'm sorry that you have to cover for me in spite of being so busy in the first place," Minerva told him apologetically. "Please take care of yourself, Severus."

"I will," he replied and finally left the hospital wing, confirming with a glance at his wrist watch that he was already three minutes late for the staff meeting, in which he had to instruct the other teachers, who had to take over Minerva's classes in which period. Of course, the Headmaster covered most of her classes, but sometimes his appointments and obligations wouldn't allow him to teach the Transfiguration classes.

"Good morning, please excuse my tardiness," he said as he strode into the staff room. "From today onwards, it will be much easier for each of us, because Lupin is going to teach Defence, and we merely have to cover Minerva's classes. In the morning, Albus will take the Transfiguration classes. Excuse me," he interrupted himself, pulling a small parchment out of his robe pocket, before he continued with a glance at the parchment, "In the first afternoon class, Pomona has a free period and will take over my Potions class, so that I can take over Transfiguration." As brilliant as Professor Sprout was in Herbology, she was absolutely unable to teach Transfiguration.

Glancing at the parchment, he continued, "In the second afternoon class, I have a free period, so that I'll continue to teach Minerva's classes. According to Poppy, Minerva might be released tomorrow evening. Pomona, the Potions class you'll be teaching are the Gryffindor and Slytherin second years, and I'll prepare everything for them. The instructions will be on the board, and you only have to watch out and prevent them from fighting, especially Nott and Weasley. Malfoy and Potter strangely seem to behave these days." '_Oh no, and I have those second years in the last Transfiguration class_,' he thought horrified after a final glance on the parchment.

"All right," Sprout replied, smiling at her younger colleague.

"Thank you very much, Severus," the Headmaster concluded the staff meeting, smiling at everyone. "Remus, do you have any questions to any of us? If not I believe it's time to head to the Great Hall for breakfast."

"Everything is all right, thank you, Headmaster," Remus replied softly, and everyone hurried to the Great Hall.

Severus was the last to leave the room. He slowly dragged himself down the stairs, wondering if he was feeling so awful because of the lack of sleep or if he was coming down with the flu. '_Maybe both_,' he mused, pondering if he should skip breakfast, knowing that it would quite safe to do so since neither Minerva nor Poppy would miss him at breakfast anyway. '_Nobody else would have the guts to chase me down in my office because I missed a meal_,' he thought, deciding to spend the time until the beginning of the first class in his office.

However, he just passed the entrance hall, taking the way towards the staircase that led to the dungeons, when Madam Pomfrey came down the other staircase, calling him back. "Severus, are you not attending breakfast?" she asked crisply. "Come and join me, young man. Now that Minerva is better, I'll hopefully be able to attend the meals as well."

Inwardly groaning, Severus complied and grudgingly entered the Great Hall after the Mediwitch, taking the last empty seat at the Head table that was unfortunately between Pomfrey and the Headmaster. Severus had just poured himself a cup of strong black coffee when all of a sudden twenty Gryffindor fifth years lined up in front of the Headmaster, holding out parchments to the professor.

"What do you think you're doing?" he hissed, throwing the students one of his famous glares.

"We were given lines to write in our Transfiguration class yesterday and were told to hand them in at breakfast," one of the students replied frightened, causing Severus to smirk. With a flick of his wand, all the parchments were properly piled in front of the Headmaster.

"Thank you Severus," Dumbledore said gratefully, happily munching on his toast covered in lemon peel marmalade.

"Severus, you haven't eaten anything yet," Poppy's stern voice penetrated his ears, causing Severus to sigh and take a dry piece of toast onto his plate, just when the head boy and head girl approached the table.

"Professors," the head boy addressed Dumbledore, "several students talked to us about something. When their parents heard that you fired Lockhart, they demanded that all of us should be able to give back the books we had to buy because of him, especially since Professor Lupin already announced that he would like to use a different book in each class. Will it be possible to return the books?"

Dumbledore glanced at Severus. "I'm sorry my boy, but could you perhaps write an urgent letter to Flourish & Blotts or firecall them and enquire about the matter?"

Severus nodded tiredly, and the Headmaster happily told the students, "Professor Snape, who is acting as the Deputy Headmaster during Professor McGonagall's absence, will talk to the bookshop and will inform you as soon as he knows more."

'_I better leave and get over with that. Who knows what's going to happen today_,' Severus mused and quickly excused himself, ignoring the angry glare Poppy shot him because of skipping breakfast against her explicit instructions.

Back in his office, he gulped down a headache potion, pondered if he needed to take a fever reducer as well but finally decided against it and slid another headache potion as well as a fever reducer into his robe pocket for later use. A glance at his wrist watch showed that he still had ten minutes before the beginning of the first class. Knowing that he wouldn't have time to write to the bookshop, he headed to the fireplace and set up a connection with Flourish & Blotts in Hogsmeade, where he knew the owner, Mr. Blyton, very well.

"I have to coordinate this with our main shop at Diagon Alley, because I assume that most of the books have been bought there, but I'll probably be able to offer an exchange of the complete Lockhart books against one of two other Defence books of your choice for each year. Which books did the new professor suggest?" Blyton queried.

Severus let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry, Mr. Blyton, I have to ask my colleague. May I call you again around lunchtime?"

"Of course, Professor Snape. In the meantime, I'll speak with the London shop to find out how we can help you."

Severus thanked the man, cutting off the connection right in time for the first class to begin. Fortunately, his seventh year NEWT class students were very adept at Potions and busied themselves with a complicated healing potion, so that Severus merely had to sit at his desk, watching the students work. After the class, he headed back to the fireplace and called Lupin, quickly informing him about the book situation.

"Give me a list with the titles of the books you wish to use for each class, and name a second one each in case they'll offer to give us two books for the complete collection of fantasy fairy tales penned by Lockhart the halfwit."

Lupin smirked. "Thank you, Severus. I already made a list. Let me just fetch it from my private quarters."

"Very well, then I'll come over in the meantime, so you can give it to me," Severus replied and waited until Lupin was gone, before he stepped into the fireplace. Five minutes later, he was back, noticing that the Floo hadn't helped improve his condition. His throat was getting very dry and sore, and he had to cough every now and then. Unfortunately, he didn't have any cough potion more and had given the whole batch of the flu potion to Pomfrey that morning. '_I'll let the third years brew the cough potion. It's a third year level potion anyway_,' he mused, quickly exchanging the brewing instructions at the blackboard to a completely different recipe, before he let the students in.

While the students busied themselves with their potion, Severus sat at his desk, ignoring the students' gasp as he sat down, which was extremely rare for the Potions Master, who loved to stride around the room, breathing into his students' necks, and scaring the wits out of them. '_Well, maybe at least one of them manages to brew the potion perfectly, if I let them in peace_,' he mused, pondering if he might be able to concentrate enough to brew the flu potion but deciding against it.

Fortunately, the potions of three Ravenclaw students managed to fulfil his requirements, and Severus gladly gulped a small phial of the potion down, storing the rest of the potion in his lab, before he prepared the classroom for the afternoon class and headed to the fireplace to speak with Mr. Blyton for the second time on that morning. The owners of the bookshop agreed to take all the books back in exchange for the two Defence books for each class from Professor Lupin's list. "Thank you very much, Mr. Blyton," Severus replied, before he cut off the connection.

'_I better head to the Great Hall and instruct all the dunderheads to bring their books to the Great Hall in the afternoon_,' he decided and dragged himself up the stairs after a short detour to his potions lab to gulp down another headache potion as well as a fever reducer. Arriving in the Great Hall, he noticed to his relief that not only the Headmaster but also Poppy was absent. '_Thank God; I'm not hungry at all_,' he thought as he approached the Head table.

"Please bring all of your Lockhart Defence books here to the Great Hall immediately after your last afternoon class. You'll receive two new Defence books in return over the next few days," he announced, noticing horrified that his voice was beginning to crack.

"Severus, are you feeling all right?" Lupin asked gently. "You don't look well."

"I'm fine, I'm just tired, because I spent the night brewing," Severus replied, absentmindedly looking around the House tables. "Don't forget to come to my office tonight for your potion," he reminded his colleague, who threw him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry you have to do that for me, Severus," Lupin told him softly.

"I'm not doing that for you, Lupin, but for everyone else here," Severus gave back, regretting that his voice sounded too hoarse to come out as the sneer as that it was intended.

'_What are they doing_?' Severus thought in exasperation, seeing from the corner of his eye how Granger extended a hand to Potter, who flinched back so badly that it caused him to fall off his seat. Potter sat back on his seat, and Granger once more tried to extend her hand. This time, she managed to lay it onto the boy's forehead and let out a gasp, before she began to intensely talk at Potter.

Severus threw the boy a sharp look, noticing that he looked as horrible as he felt in spite of the potions he had taken. '_Maybe I should take him to the hospital wing, considering that Minerva is not here to look after her lions_,' he mused, although he'd never do such a thing if it wasn't for the fact that he could understand so well how the boy must feel. However, he dismissed the thought when his godson Draco approached the Head table.

"Uncle Severus, why can't you teach our class?" he whined, causing Severus to sigh.

"Draco, there is nothing to do about it. Stop whining and be careful in class. Don't fight with the Gryffindors, is that clear?" he replied in a hoarse but stern voice, raising an eyebrow at the child.

"Yes, Uncle Severus," Draco replied and strolled back to the Slytherin table.

A glance at his wrist watch showed Severus that it was time to head to the Transfiguration classroom. Glad that nobody was there to scold him about not eating, he excused himself and strode out of the Great Hall. When he walked behind the Gryffindor table he heard Granger and Weasley try to coax Potter into eating his lunch. Suddenly taking pity on the child, he took a few steps back and said quietly, "People like Potter don't need to eat, Granger. They can live from their frame and love." He let out a few small coughs, before he managed to get a grip on himself and continued, "Professor Sprout will be teaching my class today and I expect you to behave yourself. Do not fight with other students. Is that completely clear?" he asked sternly, leaning over to the trio until his face was a mere metre from Potter's face.

"Yes Professor," Granger replied immediately, followed by a small echo from Potter, whose eyes looked glassy and ill.

"Potter, you should go to the hospital wing anyway. If you'll still be attending classes later in the afternoon, I'll personally see to it and take you to Pomfrey." With that, Severus dragged himself up the stairs to the Transfiguration classroom.

Severus somehow struggled through the first year Transfiguration class, glad that the spells the students had to perform were still very easy. '_Thank God that Minerva is so well organized that it's fairly easy to cover for her_,' he mused, while he watched the students practising to transfigure a piece of parchment into a leaf.

Fifteen minutes before the end of the class, the fireplace flared and Sprout's head appeared in the flames. "Severus, I'm sorry, but I need your help here."

Severus groaned as he dismissed the students earlier, instructing them to write an essay about their problems practising, and stepped into the fireplace. The Potions classroom looked like a war field with several exploded cauldrons and a class of very upset students.

"What happened here?" Severus bellowed, groaning inwardly at the pain it caused his sore throat.

"Mr. Nott, Mr. Crabbe, and Mr. Goyle began the fight I believe, but Mr. Weasley and Mr. Finnegan shot something back to make their cauldrons explode," Sprout filled him in.

Severus threw a questioning look at the Know-it-all Granger, who nodded her agreement. Draco was sitting at his desk, smirking, while Potter sat at his desk with his head popped up on his arms.

"Harry had nothing to do with it," Weasley hissed, noticing the piercing look Severus threw at the child.

"I know that," Severus replied icily, pointing his wand at Potter's head. '_39.8 (103.6) degrees_,' he sighed inwardly. "Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Weasley, and Finnegan, immediately after dinner you will return here and clean this room. Everyone else is dismissed, Potter and Granger, please stay back."

Potter slowly raised his head in confusion, while Granger threw him a surprised look.

"Ms. Granger, I'm going to take Mr. Potter to the hospital wing, so I might be a few minutes late for our Transfiguration class together. Please tell your classmates to practise the spell you learned in your last class."

"All right Professor," Granger replied and after a last concerned look at her sick friend hurried away.

Potter looked at him, apparently feeling too bad to protest when Severus told him, "You're running a high fever, Mr. Potter. Please accompany me to the hospital wing."

Seeing that the boy couldn't keep himself on his feet anymore, Severus conjured a stretcher and let the child float in front of him as he slowly made his way to the hospital wing, where he placed him on the bed next to Minerva.

"Yes, you have the wizard's flu, Mr. Potter," Pomfrey confirmed a minute later. "Thank you, Severus, for bringing him to me."

Severus slightly inclined his head and sat down on the edge of Minerva's bed, while Pomfrey fussed over Potter. "Is everything all right?" he whispered, knowing that his voice would fail if he tried to speak aloud.

"Yes Severus, thank you. Are you all right? You look worse for the wear today," Minerva observed in concern.

"I told you I'm tired and it's an extremely busy day. I have to hurry to my last Transfiguration class, Minerva. I'll see you later."

"Severus," Minerva called him back. "Floo into my office; that's much faster and less strenuous than to walk up all the stairs."

"All right, Minerva, thank you," Severus gave back and gladly complied, arriving in the Transfiguration classroom only ten minutes late, seeing that a few students were obviously following Granger's instructions, while most of the students were participating in a verbal fight between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"I am very disappointed in all of you, who were fighting again," he croaked hoarsely. "Fifty points each off Slytherin and Gryffindor."

Loud protests were the answer, against which his hoarse voice couldn't compete. "Shut up, everyone. You can hear that Professor Snape can't speak loud enough to continue," Granger shouted on his behalf but without much effect.

Sighing, Severus raised his wand at the class, casting a silencing spell at the class. "I'm sorry for that," he whispered. "I just want to tell you that I won't tolerate this behaviour anymore. As soon as Professor McGonagall is back to health, we shall sit together and think about what we can do to improve the relationship between our Houses." Seeing that some of the students were protesting silently, he added, smirking at Weasley, "If necessary, we shall even re-sort some of you." Knowing that he wasn't able to teach that class right now, he dismissed the students.

"I refuse to teach such dunderheads like you. You will use your free time to write a five foot long parchment about how you think we could improve the relationship between our two Houses. I expect your essays on the Head table tomorrow morning before breakfast."

He ended the silencing spell and, ignoring the students' vehement protests, he shooed the children out and stepped through the fireplace into his office. Glancing at his wrist watch, he noticed that he had an hour left until dinnertime. Setting an alarm for fifty minutes, he lay down on the sofa in his living room, not wanting to go to bed since it would be too comfortable to ever get up again, and slept for a few minutes, before he woke up from a nightmare about the Marauders. Afraid to see more nightmares that kind, he dragged himself back into his office and spent a few minutes unsuccessfully trying to concentrate on grading homework, before he abandoned his work and headed to his potions lab to take a couple more potions.

Feeling slightly better after taking the strongest fever reducer he had in stock, Severus dragged himself to the Great Hall, finding hundreds of books piled more or less neatly on the Head table. '_Very well_,' he sighed as he waved his wand, shrinking the whole pile of books into a small bag that fit into the largest of his robe pockets. '_I better take them to Hogsmeade as long as I can_,' he mused and dragged himself back to his office, from where he took the Floo to The Three Broomsticks.

Whispering a short greeting to Madam Rosmerta, he slowly walked down the main street to Flourish & Blotts, glad that Mr. Blyton seemed not to be busy at the moment.

"Thank you so much for your understanding in this matter, Mr. Blyton," he whispered, placing the shrunken books on the counter.

"You're very welcome, Professor Snape," the man replied, handing Severus another shrunken bag. "Would it be convenient for you to use the fireplace?" Blyton offered gently, apparently noticing that Severus wasn't his normal self.

"That would be most agreeable," Severus replied gratefully and quickly returned to his office, from where he walked straight to the Great Hall, where he arrived just in time for dinner to end. He quickly un-shrank the books and placed them in piles, sorted by the year, on the empty spots of the Head table, where Dumbledore, McGonagall, Pomfrey, and he were missing. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to speak loud enough for the students to understand, he grudgingly turned to Lupin, somehow finding it easier to ask his former classmate than the other Heads of House.

"Lupin, would you please instruct the students to walk by the Head table and take their books, before they leave the Great Hall?" he whispered to the werewolf, who nodded in understanding.

"Professor Snape has kindly organized the exchange of your Defence books and your new books have arrived. Please come by the Head table after dinner and take your books with you. There are two different books for everyone, and you'll find them sorted by the classes."

"Thank you Lupin," Severus whispered and left the Great Hall, walking behind the Gryffindor table once more. "Ms. Granger, please take Mr. Potter's books with you and give them to him later on."

"Yes of course," Granger replied softly. "What's wrong with Harry? Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let us to him."

"He has the wizard's flu," Severus whispered back, before he slowly dragged himself back to his office, where he arrived at the same time as the five students, who had to serve detention.

Severus waved his wand at the board, causing a long sentence to appear. '_I will not fight with students from other Houses, and I will not endanger the lives of my classmates by throwing objects in other students' cauldrons_.' He painfully cleared his throat and said in a hoarse voice barely above a whisper, "Write this sentence three hundred times without using any magic, and believe me, I'll know, if you use magic. I expect your essays on my place at the Head table by Sunday evening at dinnertime. You're dismissed."

Without waiting for the students to voice their surprise at the fact that he merely dismissed them with lines to write instead of making them scrub dirty cauldrons or prepare the most disgusting potions ingredients, Severus returned to his office, where he let himself sink on his chair, resting his achy head on the mountain of homework that was piled on his desk.

A knock at the door pulled him out of his stupor. Unable to speak aloud, he waved his wand at the door, revealing Lupin, who came for the first dose of his Wolfsbane potion. Severus motioned his former classmate to follow him as he dragged himself into his private lab, where he filled one dose of the still simmering potion into a huge goblet.

"Thank you so much, Severus," Lupin said gratefully as he handed the empty goblet back.

Severus merely inclined his head, motioning his colleague out of his lab, before he collapsed on the sofa in the living room, causing Lupin to throw him a worried look.

"Severus, I needn't ask if you're all right as it is obvious that you aren't. Is there anything I can do for you?" he queried softly. "Shall I call Poppy for you?"

"No," Severus gave back weakly, "just let me alone please. I'm fine; I just didn't sleep enough last night."

"All right, Severus. I hope you'll feel better tomorrow," Lupin replied, leaving the room through the Potions Master's office.

Severus sighed in relief as he summoned his warm bed covers from his bedroom, feeling too weak to drag himself to his bed. He nestled deep into his covers, falling asleep in the blink of an eye.

A few hours later, a warm female voice with a Scottish accent he would always recognize penetrated his foggy mind, and when he lazily opened his achy eyes just a little bit, he saw Minerva sit on the edge of the sofa.

"Minerva," he croaked, wondering why she wasn't in the hospital wing anymore.

"Severus, you're ill," she said softly, placing a cold hand on his forehead. "You probably caught the flu from me just like Harry. Let me take you to the hospital wing."

"No, I'm fine, I'm only tired and want to sleep," Severus lied, musing, '_I certainly didn't do anything 'just like Harry,' that's for sure_.'

"Well, let's see how fine you are," Minerva scoffed as she conjured a thermometer, sticking the business end under his tongue, causing him to shiver violently as the icy cold glass hit the inside of his comfortably warm mouth. "I see you're completely fine with your forty (one hundred and four) degrees of fever," the woman stated, thinking for a moment, before she continued, "I'm sorry, Severus, but I'm still not well enough to nurse you back to health; therefore I'm going to take you with me to the hospital wing, and I don't care if you like it or not. Are you able to walk together with me or do I need to put you onto a stretcher?"

Feeling too awful to care what happened, Severus slowly accompanied Minerva to the hospital wing, heavily leaning onto her arm. Drifting off to sleep as soon as his head came to lie the pillow, he never noticed that Poppy threw a temper tantrum because Minerva had left the hospital wing without being given permission or that the Healer checked on him, sighing in exasperation, and spelled several potions into his system. He didn't even hear Harry suffering from a fevered nightmare after mistaking him for his uncle due to his delirious state but succumbed to a well earned and much needed sleep after a long school day.

_

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tbc…_

_I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes. _

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	6. Minerva’s Fifth Day of Classes

**6 – Minerva's Fifth Day**** of Classes**

Minerva lazily opened her eyes just a little bit, noticing that the room had stopped turning around for the first time since she had been taken ill. '_I must be better_,' she mused in relief, absolutely hating the hospital wing as well as her best friend's fussing. '_Maybe Poppy will allow me to return to my quarters after breakfast_.'

"Good morning, Minerva," Poppy, who had been alerted by a spell that her patient had woken up, said, waving her wand over the teacher. "You still have a fever of 38.8 (100.4) degrees, but at least that's a huge improvement compared to yesterday. Now, Minnie, what would you like for breakfast?"

"Nothing," Minerva replied in a small voice, having not the slightest bit of an appetite. "May I go back to my quarters? I promise to stay in bed," she added quickly, seeing her friend glare at her in exasperation.

"Minerva, you're still ill and you will remain in this bed for at least two more days," Poppy informed her in a no-nonsense voice. "Refusing to eat your meals will add negative points to your record and might let me consider keeping you longer."

The Scottish lioness let out a snort, unfortunately ending up in a coughing fit, and Poppy used the opportunity to spell a few potions into her stubborn friend's stomach, before she returned to her office, knowing that Severus had just arrived with a batch of the flu potion.

Minerva had just recovered from her coughing fit and was about to drift back to sleep, when she saw Severus come out of Poppy's office. She smiled when he headed straight to her bed, which wasn't separated by the white curtain yet like it often was during the day, so that she could sleep in peace when lots of students came into the hospital wing to more or less willingly let Madam Pomfrey fuss over them.

Severus sat down on the edge of her bed, gently taking her hand into his own, which didn't feel as icy cold as it had felt during the last few days.

"Good morning, Minerva," he said in his soft silky voice. "Are you feeling a bit better today?"

"Good morning, Severus. Yes, I feel much better today, and I can tell you know that if Poppy won't release me by tomorrow night, I'm going to release myself," she replied firmly, noticing that his face was even paler than normal and that he had dark rings under his eyes. '_I hope he won't get ill too. Maybe he caught the flu from me when he took me to the hospital wing a few days ago_,' she mused worriedly.

Severus smirked. "Well, it's good to see that your Scottish temper is back, Minerva. I'm sorry, but I have to run; I'll come by again later on," he promised and was about to stand up, when Minerva grabbed his arm, holding him back.

"Severus, I'm sorry, but you look awful. What's wrong? Are you getting ill, too?" she asked in concern.

Severus sighed. "I'm just tired, because I had to brew the Wolfsbane potion, but with introducing Lupin to the staff and everything else it was already late, before I could even get to it, so it took until five o'clock this morning."

"I'm sorry that you have to cover for me in spite of being so busy in the first place," Minerva told him apologetically. "Please take care of yourself, Severus."

"I will," he replied and finally left the hospital wing, leaving Minerva worrying how he'd be able to get through a whole day of classes in his apparently sickly condition.

Over the morning, the hospital wing remained relatively quiet. Only a few students came with minor aches and injuries, and Minerva was glad that Poppy left the white curtains open so she could watch her friend tending to the children. Due to her still persisting headache and the fever she couldn't spend much time reading, but she felt too well to sleep through the day, so she fairly enjoyed the small activities that were going on around her.

After a small fight with Poppy, who force-fed her half a bowl of soup at lunchtime, Minerva finally drifted off to a blissful sleep that ended abruptly when Severus returned placing a student on the bed next to her.

"Yes, you have the wizard's flu, Mr. Potter," Poppy spoke up a minute later. "Thank you, Severus, for bringing him to me."

'_Oh no, Harry caught it from me when he spent the evening in detention_,' Minerva mused. '_The poor child_.'

Severus slightly inclined his head towards Poppy and sat down on the edge of Minerva's bed, while Poppy fussed over Harry. "Is everything all right?" he whispered, sounding slightly hoarse in spite of his whispering.

"Yes Severus, thank you. Are you all right? You look worse for the wear today," Minerva observed in concern.

"I told you I'm tired and it's an extremely busy day. I have to hurry to my last Transfiguration class, Minerva. I'll see you later."

"Severus," Minerva called him back, sensing that he was in no condition to run up to her classroom. "Floo into my office; that's much faster and less strenuous than to walk up all the stairs."

"All right, Minerva, thank you," Severus gave back and hurried to the fireplace in Poppy's office.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

It was nearly an hour after dinner and Minerva was about to drift off to sleep when Remus Lupin entered the hospital wing searching for Poppy.

"I think she went to Hufflepuff, where a group of second years tried to hex each other," Minerva explained. "Do you need her urgently?"

"No," Remus replied hesitantly. "I know that he wouldn't want me to tell, but I'm worried about Severus. He seems to be really ill, yet he won't admit it."

"Oh no," Minerva groaned. "That's typically Severus. He'd do everything for others if they were sick, but he doesn't allow himself to show any sign of weakness. I'm surprised you noticed at all."

"I had to make an announcement for him at dinner, because his voice failed, and when I went to get my potion from him a few minutes ago, he was in his private quarters and obviously too sick to hide it from me."

'_Maybe he didn't even try, knowing that Remus wouldn't make a fuss_,' Minerva thought and slowly stood up. "Thank you for alerting me to the problem, Remus. I'll go and check on him."

"Are you all right, Minerva? I don't believe Poppy is keeping you here just for fun," the Defence teacher queried in obvious concern, causing her to snort. "She is overprotective of me, that's all. Maybe I'll be back before she knows that I'm gone." With that, Minerva pulled her robes over her night clothes and slowly walked down to the dungeons, glad that she knew the password to Severus' private quarters.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Severus was lying on the sofa in the living room, huddled under a pile of blankets. His face was as white as his pillow, making his deeply flushed cheeks look even darker. Feeling not too well herself after walking down all the way from the hospital wing hat had appeared long to her today, she carefully sat down on the edge of the sofa, causing Severus to stir.

"Minerva," he croaked, sounding horrible.

"Severus, you're ill," she said softly, placing a cold hand on his forehead. "You probably caught the flu from me just like Harry. Let me take you to the hospital wing."

"No, I'm fine, I'm only tired and want to sleep," Severus replied, coughing.

"Well, let's see how fine you are," Minerva scoffed as she conjured a thermometer, sticking the business end under his tongue, causing him to shiver violently as the icy cold glass hit the inside of his hot mouth. "I see you're completely fine with your forty (one hundred and four) degrees of fever," the woman stated, thinking for a moment, before she continued, "I'm sorry, Severus, but I'm still not well enough to nurse you back to health; therefore I'm going to take you with me to the hospital wing, and I don't care if you like it or not. Are you able to walk together with me or do I need to put you onto a stretcher?"

Obviously feeling too awful to care what happened, Severus slowly accompanied Minerva to the hospital wing, heavily leaning onto her arm. She gently led him to the bed next to her and tucked him in, just when Poppy strode into the room with an extremely angry expression.

"Minerva, what do you think you're doing?" she asked in a dangerously quiet voice, stemming her hands into her sides. "Nobody gave you permission to leave the hospital wing, not even to fetch Severus, which I could have done by myself. From now on you will comply, and I'll tell you now that I'll use a sticking charm to keep you in bed if I see as much as a foot of yours outside that bed. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Minerva whispered, lying back in absolute exhaustion, gladly allowing Poppy to tuck her in.

Poppy shook her head in desperation, before she turned to Severus letting out an exasperated sigh as she checked on him and spelled several potions into his system. "Severus should know better than to run around the castle with the wizard's flu accompanied by such a high fever," she mumbled, just when Harry in the bed on Minerva's other side let out a few strange sounds.

Poppy stepped around her bed and took a seat on the edge of Harry's bed, gently putting a cold hand on the boy's forehead as he began to thrash around, mumbling hoarsely, "No Uncle, please don't hurt me, I'll try to finish all my chores tomorrow; I'm sorry Uncle."

"Harry, it's all right, wake up," Poppy said softly. "Your uncle is not here."

Minerva worriedly sat up in her bed, seeing that Harry slightly opened his dull green eyes, pointing into her and Severus' direction. "He is there. Pfessor McGonagall brought him here a few minutes ago."

"That's Professor Snape, sweetie; he's ill with the flu as well," Poppy answered in a soothing voice, causing Harry to let out a frightened wince.

"He'll use me for potions ingredients. He said so," he croaked, anxiously looking around the room.

"No Harry, he won't; remember, he was the one, who noticed that you were ill and brought you to me," Poppy told him.

"And my uncle?" Harry queried, frantically searching the room with glassy eyes.

"He's not here, Harry. You're safe at Hogwarts. It's just that you're delirious and believe people to be here, who aren't. Now lie down and try to sleep, sweetie. I'm here, and Professor McGonagall is watching over you as well."

"Kay," Harry croaked, allowing the Healer to lower him into a lying position and tuck him in.

Poppy gently bathed his hot face, causing him to finally succumb to a well earned and much needed sleep after a long school day.

"The poor child," Minerva whispered when Poppy came to her and helped her lie down, before she tucked her in.

"That's true, Minerva, and it's time Albus finally allowed him to get away from his horrid relatives. Now go to sleep, Minerva. You need your sleep as well. Good night."

"Night Poppy," Minerva mumbled lazily, already drifting off to sleep.

_

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tbc…_

_Thank you for your kind reviews!  
_

_I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes. _

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	7. Minerva's Seventh Day of Classes

**7**** – Minerva's Seventh Day of Classes**

Minerva blinked as her alarm went off. '_Ah, it was good to be back in my own bed_,' she mused as she sleepily sat up and looked around. '_And it's Friday, thank God_.' She slowly made her way to the bathroom when a thought struck her mind. '_Oh no, we have to cover Severus' classes, and I have to make the plan and announce it to the others in the staff meeting. I have to hurry_!'

She swiftly took a shower and dressed, before she spent a few minutes in her office creating the schedule for covering Severus' classes. '_Well, I hope Albus won't have any other appointments in the morning; otherwise only Professor Binns could take over, which wouldn't be too recommendable. It's bad enough that I have to watch over the Potions classes in the afternoon_,' she pondered as she walked down to the staffroom, noticing that she was exhausted by the time she reached the staffroom. '_Maybe Poppy was right as she insisted I couldn't teach until Monday, but with Severus sick I don't have a choice_.' She wearily opened the door to the staffroom and slowly stepped into the room.

A collective gasp greeted her. "Minerva," Dumbledore was the first to speak up in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Minerva frowned. "Did a few days of absence cause you to forget who I am, Albus? Let me tell you that I am your Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration teacher, and I joined the staff meeting in order to organize today's schedule since we have to fill in for Severus. I suggest that you take Severus' morning classes if you can, and I cover his afternoon classes."

The Headmaster threw his Deputy a sharp look and said firmly, "According to Poppy you're supposed to be in bed and rest and not to teach before Monday."

"You know how Poppy is," Minerva replied, rolling her eyes. "I'm well enough to teach, and since you're in enough trouble with Severus missing, I will teach."

"That sounds good, Minerva," Rolanda Hooch spoke up. "We were planning to have a Quidditch match teachers against students tonight. We can rely on you to play Chaser then, can't we?"

Minerva threw her friend a terrified look. '_A Quidditch match against the students is a brilliant idea, and I'd love to play, but definitely not today_,' she pondered, before she replied in a small voice, "I'm sorry, Rolanda, but I don't think I feel well enough to play Quidditch yet, but I appreciate the idea, and I'd like to play the next time. I'll make sure to watch you play from the charmed window in my quarters."

"Which proves that you're definitely not well, my dear," Filius Flitwick threw in. "Under normal conditions, if you were as healthy as you pretend to be, even if you weren't able to fly for some reason, you'd be the first to sit in the stands and watch the match."

"Exactly," Pomona Sprout agreed, "you still look unwell, Minerva. Albus, I have a free period in the last afternoon class. I can take over the Potions class then instead of Minerva."

"Listen to them, Minerva," Remus Lupin agreed, while Dumbledore placed a huge mug of Minerva's favourite tea in front of her.

"Thank you, Albus," Minerva said gratefully, craving the warmth of the mug as she wrapped both hands around the warm pottery. "Now, if you're through with your concerned comments, can we agree that Albus takes Severus' classes in the morning, I take the first afternoon class and Pomona the last afternoon class?"

"If you're sure, Minerva," Dumbledore agreed, sighing.

"Can't you ever listen to Poppy?" Rolanda blurted out. "I know that she can be over-protective and annoying, especially because you and I are her best friends, but in most cases she is right."

"You're one to talk," Minerva snorted, letting out a few harsh coughs. "All right, shall we go and have breakfast?" she suggested, before she walked out of the room with her mug still in her hands.

She dragged herself to the Great Hall, getting slightly unsure why she hadn't just acknowledged her colleague's concern and had let them cover her classes in order to stay in bed and rest. '_Well, thanks to Pomona I have only my own morning classes and one afternoon Potions class to teach. That should be no problem_.' She sat down at the Head table, wondering why none of her colleagues had arrived yet in spite of her slow walking speed. '_Strange, but at least I don't have to pretend to be eating_,' she mused and slowly sipped her tea, while she glanced over the House tables only to find nothing out of the ordinary.

Finishing her tea, she decided to head to the classroom early to check her lesson plan for the morning and left the Great Hall. Just then all of her colleagues entered the Hall through a different door, except for Pomona Sprout, who was still in the entrance hall speaking with a student. Seeing Minerva however, her colleague quickly excused herself and stepped over to her.

"Minerva, are you sure you want to teach? Just to let you know, Albus called Poppy, and she threw a temper tantrum in the staff room, telling us that you obviously released yourself in the middle of the night when she came to check on you before going to bed and told you that she wanted to keep you for another day because you were still running a temperature. She is very angry."

"I'm sorry Pomona; anyway, thank you for taking over the last Potions class today," Minerva replied and continued to walk towards her classroom. '_Why do they all have to make such a fuss_?' she mused as she entered her office to check her notes for today's classes.

The first year's Slytherin and Hufflepuff class went well, and Minerva sighed in relief as she dismissed the students, completely forgetting to assign homework. However, the next class was a combined class of second year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Minerva groaned in anticipation, musing, '_The second year Gryffindors and Slytherins seem to be everyone's least favourite class. It was probably a good idea to pair the first year Gryffindors with the Ravenclaws_.'

The second class began in a spectacular way. With a flick of her wand Minerva made small grey plush cats float out of a box, so that one cat came to sit in front of each student. "Now I want you to transfigure your cat into a different coloured cat that makes sounds," she explained. Casting the spell, she started, "Faeles Demuto Viv..." Before she could finish the incantation, however, she ended up in a coughing fit, causing the plush cat change into a living animal. To the students' great amusement, a grey cat was running around the classroom, panicking when she didn't find a way out of the room.

Minerva groaned and tried to stun the animal, which unfortunately began hiding under the students' chairs, so that in the end the whole class tried to catch the small clever animal. After twenty minutes of an inefficient chase, Minerva told the students to just leave the cat alone and quickly showed them the proper incantation, so they could use the rest of the class practising. When she dismissed the students, Hermione stepped over to her.

"Professor, are you all right?" she queried in obvious concern, causing Minerva to sigh.

"Yes thank you, Ms. Granger, I'm fine," she replied quietly, waiting until the girl left the room, before she waved her wand around the room, casting a stunning spell, so she could transfigure the stunned cat back into a plush cat. '_Thank God this class is over_,' she mused as she dragged herself down to the Great Hall for lunch.

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Minerva slowly approached the Head table, heading straight for her seat next to the Headmaster. When she passed behind Pomona and Filius, who were talking animatedly, she heard her colleague say, "Don't tell Minerva about it, Filius. We don't want to aggravate her condition by upsetting her."

Minerva cleared her throat as she let herself sink on her seat, throwing Pomona a pointed glare. "What was it that you didn't want to tell me, Professor Sprout?" she enquired sternly.

"I'm sorry Minerva," Pomona sighed. "It's just that Mr. Nott and Mr. Weasley got into a fight in my classroom this morning and destroyed half of my mandrake babies with their actions. I'm sorry, I didn't want to keep it from you, I just didn't want to make you upset as long as you're not completely recovered. That's why I didn't take House points yet but only assigned them a month worth's of detention with Mr. Filch."

"Fifty points each from Slytherin and Gryffindor," Minerva replied angrily, before she said sternly, "I appreciate your concern, Pomona, but I still expect you not to hide such things from me."

"Don't let yourself get so upset Minerva," the Headmaster reprimanded her lightly, "Pomona only meant well."

"Yes I know," Minerva sighed, while she took a few carrots on her plate and began to play with them, eventually taking a few bites as she noticed Pomona and Rolanda watching her, before she left for the Potions classroom.

Minerva entered Severus' office and examined the notes her colleague had made for his first afternoon class. '_Oh no, it's those annoying second year Gryffindors and Slytherins again_,' she groaned inwardly as she looked through the notes. '_The instant Harry and Malfoy obviously abandoned their fight, Nott and Weasley began their own_.'

The students had to brew an easy healing potion. However, there was a note Severus had made for himself, 'Advise the dunderheads not to put the Whomping Willow leaves in before the potion turns yellow and to stir counter clockwise after slowly inserting the leaves.'

Minerva stepped into the classroom, and with a flick of her wand the recipe was on the board including the complete list of ingredients. Afterwards, she opened the classroom door, so the students could come in, although it was still a bit early. '_I'd love to visit Severus, but I can't go into the hospital wing, if Poppy is so angry at me. Maybe I should try to visit him in my cat form and see if he's able to understand me even without transforming into his black panther form first_.'

She was pulled out of her thoughts as a bulk of second years entered the class, absentmindedly noticing that Granger and Weasley took seats in the first row, while Malfoy and Nott sat in the same row but on the opposite side. Minerva pointed to the recipe on the board and relayed Severus' warning to them, before she sat down behind the teacher's desk and closely watched the students gather and prepare their ingredients. To her relief, the students set to work diligently, and only once she had to remind Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode once to stop their continuous talking.

"Professor, something's wrong with my potion I think," Ron Weasley suddenly whined, and Minerva automatically approached the desk in the first row and looked into Hermione's cauldron first, knowing that the colour and the consistence of her potion would most probably be correct. Hermione's potion was yellow with a light orange touch and it was quite viscous. Turning to Ron's cauldron, she noticed that not only the colour was completely off with its dark green, but that it had the wrong consistence. Having no idea what was wrong with the potion she pulled her wand in order to vanish it with the Evanesco spell, which Severus had taught all his colleagues. However, before she could point her wand at the potion, it exploded right into her face.

The students watched terrified as the teacher collapsed to the floor, moaning in agony. Hermione turned to her classmates. "Out here everyone! Malfoy, run to the hospital wing and call Pomfrey. Ron, go and fetch Dumbledore. Hurry up, and everyone else out!" For once, nobody questioned her authority, and Draco and Ron dashed away, followed by the others, who abandoned their work space and left the classroom.

Minerva had to try hard not to cry. '_It hurts so much; what's happening? My body seems to transform as if I had taken the Polyjuice Potion or as if I was going to transform into my Animagus form for the first time, but it won't stop_,' she wondered. '_Thank God that Ms. Granger was thoughtful enough to throw everyone out and to send for Poppy_.'

Hermione waved her wand around the room, casting the Evanesco spell on all the cauldrons except for Ron's, in order to prevent other strange things from happening, before she turned to Minerva, who was lying on the floor, silently moaning in pain. Hermione suddenly noticed that the professor looked much younger than before, wondering if Ron had managed to brew a de-aging potion, just when Pomfrey stepped out of the fireplace and hurried over.

"What happened?" she queried sternly, already waving her wand at the teacher.

"Professor McGonagall was hit by Ron's potion, but we don't know what it was," Hermione replied, panicking.

"It was obviously a de-aging potion," Poppy stated. "She is thirty years, three months, and thirteen days old. Minerva, do you remember what happened?"

"I was hit by Mr. Weasley's potion," Minerva groaned. "Everything hurts, Poppy, what happened?"

"You were obviously hit by a de-aging potion. Congratulations Minerva, you're thirty. Fortunately, your brain seems not to be affected, considering that you remember Mr. Weasley and his potion, so that you only lost your actual age and not your memories," Poppy said gently. "You're in pain because your body transformed into a forty years younger body, which was painful, especially as you were not completely recovered from the wizard's flu. Your temperature, which you were still running, has gone up because of your accident, and I have to take you to the hospital wing."

Pomfrey looked around the room. "Ms. Granger, could you please put a note at the door to cancel the remaining afternoon class? I have to come back to clean this room up during the weekend."

"Madam Pomfrey, I can help you if you wish. I would do it right now, but I don't know the spells except for the Evanesco spell, which I used on all the cauldrons apart from Ron's, because I didn't know if you'd need the potion," Hermione replied as she wrote the note.

"Just leave everything as it is for the moment. Thank you for your offer; I might get back to you later on," Madam Pomfrey replied gently, conjuring a stretcher for Minerva at the same time.

Minerva closed her eyes and tried to relax when Poppy carefully let the stretcher float at her side and placed Minerva on the bed she had previously occupied, before she released herself during the night. From the corner of her eye she saw that Severus threw her a terrified look and felt bad for him.

"Severus, it's all right, I'm fine," she mumbled, sighing in relief as Poppy spelled a pain relieving potion into her system. "Thank you Poppy," she said gratefully.

"You're welcome, Minerva. Lie down and rest. This time, I'm going to keep you here until you're fully recovered and your fever is completely gone," Pomfrey replied sternly and turned to Severus, who was coughing harshly. "Easy Severus, she said in a much softer voice and gently helped him to sit up, so he could breathe easier.

"Thank you Poppy," he croaked. "What happened?"

"Minerva was hit by a de-aging potion Mr. Weasley brewed. She is thirty years old but fortunately has all of her memories," Poppy explained shortly, just when the Headmaster stormed into the hospital wing, closely followed by Ron.

"Weasley, get out!" Severus shouted hoarsely, ending up in another coughing fit, while Pomfrey told Dumbledore what had happened.

"Are you all right, Professor McGonagall?" Harry suddenly croaked from the bed on Minerva's other side.

"I'm fine," Minerva quickly reassured him in spite of not feeling too well.

"Apart from the fact that you're de-aged and are having a setback you're fine," Pomfrey sneered, raising her wand at Severus, who was swinging both legs out of his bed as he announced that he would go and brew the antidote for Minerva. "Young man, you're going nowhere. If I may remind you, you're ill with the flu and have a fever of forty degrees. Apart from that, we have to ask Minerva if she even wants to take an antidote at all. Since she has all of her memories, it's not too bad to be thirty again now, is it, Minnie?"

"I don't know, ask me later," Minerva replied, noticing in exasperation that her voice was beginning to fade again. '_Oh no! I hate the hospital wing. I hope Poppy wasn't right about the setback_,' she mused, before she succumbed to the sleeping draught Pomfrey had just spelled into her system.

When Minerva woke up a few hours later, seeing that Severus was sitting on the edge of Harry's bed and trying to comfort the boy after having another nightmare about his uncle, she noticed that Poppy had obviously been right. '_As usual_,' Minerva thought annoyed. Her throat was burning, she had a splitting headache, and she felt very dizzy and feverish again.

Seeing that Harry had returned to a peaceful sleep, Severus stood up to return to his own bed, when he noticed that Minerva was awake. He sat down on the edge of her bed, giving her a sharp look. "How are you feeling, Minerva?" he croaked, inefficiently trying to suppress a shiver.

"Go back to bed, Severus," Minerva instructed him hoarsely, noticing that his eyes were still glazed over and his cheeks were unnaturally flushed a dark red. '_I'm about his age now, two years younger than him actually_,' she mused, suddenly feeling very happy.

"It's all right Minerva," he replied, "Poppy went with Pomona to clean my classroom. According to Ms. Granger, who sneaked in to see if you were all right a few minutes ago, it should take at least an hour." He gently moved an errand strand of hair from her forehead, frowning. "You feel as hot as my own hand. I'm sorry that you had a setback."

"It felt so good to sleep in my own bed for a few hours," Minerva replied hoarsely, unconsciously leaning into Severus' touch.

"You look gorgeous, Minerva," Severus said in amazement as he studied her flushed face. "I'd like it if you stayed like this," he added in his soft silky voice.

Minerva couldn't prevent herself from blushing deeply. '_Perhaps Poppy was right as usual and I should stay thirty_,' she mused, smiling at her favourite colleague, who proceeded to gently caress her cheeks. Very hesitantly she extended a hand to his face, looking up straight into the onyx eyes that were slowly coming nearer until Severus' lips lightly touched her own, pulling her into a long and heated kiss. They only parted when Severus succumbed to a coughing fit, causing Minerva to worriedly pull her bed covers over, so they covered him as well, although he was still sitting on the edge of the bed.

Just when Severus leaned down, pulling Minerva into another passionate kiss, the door to the hospital wing opened and Pomfrey and Sprout entered the room. While Pomona's eyes widened at the sight that greeted her, Poppy began to chuckle. "Getting herself de-aged was the best idea Minerva ever had," she whispered to her colleague, who began to laugh as well.

Unaware of the fact that they were having spectators, Minerva and Severus pulled apart startled, when Poppy addressed Severus in the strictest voice she could muster. "What do you think you're doing? Severus, get back to bed this instant, before I feel inclined to use a sticking charm."

_

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_tbc…_

**_If you're interested in writing one of the other teacher's or student's POV for this day (except for Severus' POV, which I've already written), please look at the Janurary's challenge on my newsgroup page or contact me! Everyone is welcome to add a POV chapter!_**

_Thanks to Maritime Stars for beta-ing. Thank you for your kind reviews. _

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	8. Neville's Seventh Day of Classes

**8 – Neville's Seventh Day of Classes – by sevissick**

_Sevissick was so kind and wrote this chapter for my writing challenge to fit into my story. Please enjoy!_

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Neville was panting by the time he reached the hospital wing, having run all the way from the greenhouse. He paused in the entrance, leaning against the door frame, trying to catch his breath while looking for Madam Pomfrey. Neville knew from talk around the castle that Professor Snape was ill and confined to the infirmary and more than likely in a horrid mood...well, more horrid than usual. He had begged Professor Sprout to send someone else to fetch the matron, but she had been preoccupied with trying to restore order in the greenhouse, and insisted he go. If he could just avoid walking into the ward, perhaps Professor Snape wouldn't even realize he was there.

With an overwhelming sense of relief, Neville spotted Madam Pomfrey as she emerged from behind a privacy screen shielding one of the ward beds. He caught her eye and motioned her over urgently. Her face was puzzled as she approached.

"Yes, Neville? Has something happened?"

"Madam Pomfrey, you have to come quickly, please," Neville said in a soft voice. "Ron and Nott had a fight in the greenhouse, and they're both spiking green spots. Professor Sprout said it would be easier if you cured them where they were."

"That's right, Neville. Let's go," Poppy replied.

Neville followed behind her, his relief growing the farther they walked from the infirmary. Even Madam Pomfrey's irritated muttering did nothing to dispel his happiness. So preoccupied was he that he nearly ran headlong into her when she stopped suddenly in front of him.

"Just a moment," she said, turning to face him. "There's no need for you to accompany me to the greenhouse."

"Okay," Neville said, shifting his school bag to his other shoulder. From inside, he heard Trevor croak in protest. "Then I'll..."

"If you don't mind," Madam Pomfrey said, holding up a hand to interrupt him. "I'd like you to return to the infirmary. I may be a few minutes and someone will need to keep an eye on things. I can trust you to do that, can't I?"

Neville's mouth went dry with terror at the thought of being in the same room with an ill and cranky Professor Snape. But Harry was in the hospital wing, too, wasn't he? The thought gave Neville a burst of courage.

"W...what should I do?" he stammered.

"As little as possible," Madam Pomfrey said, raising one eyebrow meaningfully. "If Mr. Potter or Professor Snape need something, you can help them, but otherwise sit tight...and for heavens' sake, don't touch anything."

Neville reluctantly made his way back to the infirmary, heading straight for Harry's bed when he arrived. He knew who was lying ensconced behind the privacy screen and he had no intention of venturing over there if he could help it. He would just wait here, talk with Harry a bit and as soon as Madam Pomfrey returned, he would be gone. Gone so fast that he would be a mere blur as he left.

"Hello, Harry," he said, looking down at where his friend lay, pale and wan against the pillow. "How are you feeling?"

"Bloody awful," Harry said in a whisper.

"Can I get you anything?"

"No. But thanks, Neville." He threw one arm over his eyes as if the light streaming through the ward windows was too bright to bear. "What's this I hear about Ron and Nott mixing it up during Herbology?" he murmured.

"I didn't see much," Neville said. "There was a lot of shouting and then plants and potting material flying about. I'm not even sure what started it."

"I must be delirious," came an irritated and hoarse voice from behind the screen. "Because while I was sleeping, I was certain I heard the Longbottom idiot nearby."

Neville felt the blood drain from his face. Professor Snape was awake and knew he was here. Now he had to walk over there and at least check on him. Hadn't Madam Pomfrey told him as much? Neville looked back to Harry, but his head had fallen to the side and he appeared to be sleeping.

_I'm a Gryffindor,_ Neville told himself as he tried to muster the courage to approach. _ Brave and heroic, right?_

Even with his encouraging words to himself, Neville couldn't bring himself to actually walk behind the screen. He stood just to one side and raised his voice, trying and failing to sound confident and self-assured.

"H...he...hello, P..Professor Snape," he managed to get out at last. "Do you need anything, sir?"

"What I need," Professor Snape growled back, "is to be left in peace."

Neville was startled when Professor Snape began to cough harshly; so startled that he accidentally crashed into the privacy screen, sending it clattering to the floor. He heard a shout from the direction of Harry's bed, but Neville was frozen in horror, unable to move from where he was standing, his mind working frantically.

_Pick up the screen, Neville. Bend over and put it back up. _But as he tried to obey his thoughts, his school bag dropped to the floor and Trevor went hopping across the floor of the infirmary in the direction of the dispensary.

"I'll be right back," he shouted over his shoulder, trying to keep Trevor in his sight.

Neville caught up to Trevor at the entrance to the dispensary and as he scooped him up, Trevor gave a mighty croak and a wriggle and leaped out of Neville's hands. Neville threw himself on top of the escaping toad, holding him down with one hand and reaching for his school bag with the other. It was then he realized with a sinking feeling that his bag was still lying across the room. From his vantage point on the floor, Neville gazed around the dispensary, trying to find a spot to keep Trevor contained while he cleaned up the mess in the ward. His gaze fell on the work table.

_That would be just the place, _he thought, carefully placing Trevor inside.

"Don't even try to hop out of there," he warned his toad, peering down at him. Neville quickly located a tumbler, filled it with cold water and rushed back into the ward towards Professor Snape's bed.

"I brought you a glass of water, sir," he said, just as his foot hit his discarded school bag and he went flying forward. In slow motion, Neville watched the glass fly from his hands and make two neat circles in the air before hitting Professor Snape square in the chest, the water splattering in every direction.

With a strangled yell, Professor Snape leaped from the bed, losing his balance and catching himself on the bedside table. Neville rose to one knee and, brandishing his wand, attempted a drying spell. Unfortunately, in the confusion, Neville couldn't remember the exact incantation and stared open-mouthed as there was a great bang and then the bedclothes began to smoke.

"Mr. Longbottom," Professor Snape said in a deadly calm voice as they watched the blankets smoldering. "Tell me something. When you showed up today, was it your intention to kill me?"

"N..no, sir."

"Intended or not," he said, beginning to shiver from the drenching he received, "You very nearly succeeded. Now get OUT!"

"I can't, sir. Madam Pomfrey said I'm to stay and keep an eye on things until she gets back."

"Did she? Well, let us hope you don't reduce the hospital wing to rubble before she returns."

Neville was distracted by a choking sound coming from the direction of Harry's bed and he looked over in alarm. All he could make out was the top of Harry's head. The rest of him was buried under the covers and he was quivering and making strange snorting noises. Before Neville could figure out what was happening to Harry and if he could possibly be at fault, he saw a figure in white approaching rapidly from the corner of his eye.

"Severus, what are you doing out of bed?" Madam Pomfrey said when she reached them. Then she turned and surveyed the scene in front of her. "And WHY," she asked, her voice rising, "are your bed covers on FIRE?" She quickly withdrew her wand, extinguishing the flames, turning a glare on Neville when she had finished.

"You should change into dry pyjamas before you catch your death, Severus," she fussed, helping Professor Snape to another bed and replacing the privacy screen. "Or...well...you know what I mean."

"If only that were possible," he said tiredly. "My trials would finally be at an end."

"Stop being so dramatic. Neville meant no harm."

"Indeed? I would suggest you have a look in your dispensary, Poppy."

"My dispensary? What happened to my dispensary?"

Professor Snape was coughing again and unable to reply. Neville made a move in that direction, hoping to hold Madam Pomfrey off, but she stopped him with one emphatic hand on his chest. He had really intended to take Trevor out before she returned, but it was too late now.

"Mr. Longbottom, that is absolutely disgusting!" came a sudden, horrified screech from inside the dispensary. "What is your TOAD doing in my CAULDRON?!""

"I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey! I didn't want him getting loose so I sort of plopped him in there..."

"Plopped him in, did you?" she said, sticking her head out of the door and giving him a cold look. "Well, remove him at once. Then I want you to scrub out this cauldron thoroughly, and be quick about it."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," he said, ducking into the room. "I'm sorry."

Neville looked into the cauldron and sighed. Honestly, it didn't look dirty in the least. Trevor was a very clean toad and certainly not disgusting. Now some of the potions ingredients they had to use, those were disgusting; much worse than Trevor. He lifted Trevor to the table surface.

"Don't go anywhere," Neville told him, staring into space while he tried to remember the wand movements for the cleansing spell. He recoiled at a burst of yellow sparks from the end of his wand, and when he could see properly again, glanced down at where he had left Trevor sitting.

"Trevor?" he whispered fiercely, ducking to peer under the table. "Where are you?"

From somewhere out in the ward, there was a hoarse shout of "LONGBOTTOM!" followed by a crash and ominous silence.

_Oh, please, no._

Neville wondered momentarily if he could escape out a window, or perhaps there was another exit down the corridor? He peered out into the ward cautiously and his attention went immediately to Trevor, who was sitting in a fat heap at the end of Professor Snape's bed, blinking lazily at him.

"Don't move, sir," Neville said, approaching the bed stealthily. "a...and please don't hurt me."

"You are in no danger, Mr. Longbottom," Professor Snape said, never taking his eyes from Trevor. "Because at the moment, I cannot reach my wand."

Neville pounced on Trevor, who croaked loudly in surprise. When the toad was lifted from his bed, Professor Snape slumped back to his pillow, and just as Harry had before, threw one arm across his eyes, looking drained and very much the worse for wear after his ordeal.

I'm sorry, sir," Neville said quietly, trying to maintain a grip on the wildly-wiggling Trevor, but there was no response forthcoming. Neville wished he were anywhere else except standing in the midst of the infirmary, holding a croaking toad and trying in vain to find his school bag.

"Let me have him," Harry called from across the ward. "I'll hold on to him until you're finished."

"Thanks, Harry," Neville said, gladly handing Trevor over.

Harry hefted Trevor in two hands and held him up until he was eye-to-eye with him. "Well done," he said. "That was brilliant. Just wait until I tell Ron. You are truly a toad among toads."

Neville thought Trevor looked very pleased with himself.

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tbc…_

_Thank you so much, __sevissick, for writing this chapter!_

_Thank you for your kind reviews! _

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	9. Severus’ Seventh Day of Classes

**9**** – Severus' Seventh Day of Classes**

Severus woke up and had the impression as if it was in the middle of the night. The hospital wing was dark apart from a few torches along the walls between the windows. Noticing that everything was still blurry and that he still felt dizzy, Severus quickly closed his eyes again. '_I don't know why I woke up_,' he thought in confusion, just when Poppy's voice penetrated his ears.

"I am really sorry Minerva, but I can't release you tomorrow morning. You're still running a temperature, and you're not completely recovered."

"Poppy, I'm well enough to teach tomorrow, and I promise to rest a lot during the weekend," Minerva begged the Mediwitch, still sounding slightly hoarse.

"I'm sorry Minerva, but that's my last word," Poppy replied sternly. "Now go back to sleep. Good night." With that, the Mediwitch retired for the night.

"No, then I'll release myself. You won't force me to stay here any longer, because I'm fine," Minerva said to herself a few minutes later, causing Severus to open his eyes just a little bit.

Although everything was blurry, he noticed that Minerva stood up, threw her robes over her night clothes, and left the hospital wing in a huff. '_Let's hope that Potter is fast asleep and didn't witness this example of good behaviour_,' Severus mused, torn between concern for his friend and amusement, because he could understand Minerva's reaction only too well in spite of knowing that Poppy was right.

When he woke up in the morning, he heard Poppy bustling around, angrily muttering to herself. Lazily opening his eyes, he noticed that the world was still turning around and closed them again quickly.

"Madam Pomfrey, what's wrong?" Potter suddenly asked in a quiet but hoarse voice as the Mediwitch approached his bed. "You seem very upset this morning."

"Nothing except for the fact that Professor McGonagall released herself in spite of still being sick," Pomfrey replied angrily. "I won't be surprised if she is back tonight suffering from a setback, especially if she insists on teaching a whole day of classes."

Potter let out a long sigh. "Madam Pomfrey, how long do I have to stay here? Can't I go back to my dormitory, please? I promise..."

"No Harry, your condition hasn't improved at all since you came here. You can't expect me to release you when you're running a fever of nearly forty degrees." She huffed in annoyance, before she continued her rant, "And you, Severus, are as bad as Mr. Potter. So don't even open your mouth to ask me when you can leave. Both of you are going to stay here at least over the weekend."

The Headmaster's voice coming from Pomfrey's office ended her tirade. "Poppy, can you come to the staffroom for a minute please."

Poppy hurried to her office and stepped into the fireplace, causing Potter to chuckle and whisper, "Poor Professor McGonagall if she is the reason the Headmaster called Madam Pomfrey."

"That is probably true; Madam Pomfrey is in quite a mood this morning," Severus heard himself reply, before he knew what happened, and he felt the edges of his mouth pull slightly upwards.

When Madam Pomfrey came back, her mood hadn't lightened in the least. She had just spelled her patients' potions into their systems and put up privacy screens around their beds, when Longbottom darted into the hospital wing.

"Madam Pomfrey, you have to come quickly please. Ron and Nott had a fight in the greenhouse, and they're both spiking green spots. Professor Sprout said it would be easier if you cured them where they were."

"That's right, Neville. Let's go," Poppy replied gently and bustled out of the room, muttering disapprovingly to herself.

'_Nott should know better than to fight with Weasley in the greenhouses_,' Severus thought in exasperation as he lay back and closed his achy eyes, drifting off into a much needed sleep within seconds.

However, he was abruptly pulled out of his sleep by the voice of his most hated student, Longbottom.

"I must be delirious," he mused aloud, "because while I was sleeping, I was certain I heard the Longbottom idiot nearby."

"H...he...hello, P..Professor Snape," he heard the dunderhead answer after several minutes of silence. "Do you need anything, sir?"

"What I need is to be left in peace," Severus growled back, ending up in a coughing fit that caused the boy to crash into the privacy screen, sending it clattering to the floor.

"I'll be right back," the dunderhead shouted, dashing through the hospital wing in an attempt to catch his annoying toad.

The next thing Severus knew was that the boy returned with a glass of water for him, which he – of course – didn't manage to hand over but instead lost the grip on it, so that the water was spilled all over Severus. And things only went downhill when the dunderhead tried to cast a drying spell on him, ending up setting his bedclothes on fire.

"Mr. Longbottom," he said in a deadly calm voice as he watched the blankets smouldering. "Tell me something. When you showed up today, was it your intention to kill me?"

"N..no, sir."

"Intended or not," he said, beginning to shiver in his wet pyjamas, "you very nearly succeeded. Now get OUT!"

"I can't, sir. Madam Pomfrey said I'm to stay and keep an eye on things until she gets back."

"Did she? Well, let us hope you don't reduce the hospital wing to rubble before she returns."

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long. '_It's better to endure Poppy's temper tantrum than that dunderhead_,' he mused, while Poppy helped him change his pyjamas and waved her wand at his bed to return it into a proper state, before she gently helped him back in. She also put up the privacy screens, saving him from Longbottom's sight. Unfortunately, that didn't prevent the dunderhead's toad from jumping onto his bed, and Severus would have turned that annoying beast into Potions ingredients if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't reach his wand at that moment.

"LONGBOTTOM," he shouted, watching as the boy took his toad away, before he lay down and drifted off into an exhausted sleep, unaware of the fact that Longbottom finally left and Poppy banished the privacy screens to keep a better eye on him and Potter.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

A few hours later, Poppy was just trying to force-feed Severus and Potter a few spoonfuls of chicken noodle soup, when Draco rushed into the hospital wing, calling for her.

"Madam Pomfrey, you have to come to the Potions classroom quickly. Professor McGonagall was hit with Weasley's potion. She is lying on the floor and seems to be in pain."

While Poppy dashed away through the fireplace, Draco sat on the edge of Severus' bed and sighed. "Hello Uncle Sev. Are you any better yet?"

"Hello Draco," Severus replied hoarsely, "believe me, you wouldn't want to be in my place."

"Definitely not," Draco smirked, placing two chocolate frogs on his godfather's night table. "I received a parcel from Mum this morning."

"Thank you, Draco," Severus said, coughing. "You better go, before you catch the flu from Mr. Potter or myself."

"All right; be nice to Potter, Uncle Sev." With that Draco stood up and went over to Potter's bed. The two boys exchanged a few words that sounded strangely civil in Severus' ears, before Draco finally left the room.

'_Thank God it's quiet here. I just hope that Minerva will be all right and that Poppy comes back soon to feed us our potions_,' Severus mused, feeling absolutely awful. He had the impression that his head was going to explode any second, his throat was extremely sore, and he had problems breathing when he was in a lying down position but couldn't sit up because he was too dizzy. Fortunately, only a few minutes later, Poppy entered the hospital wing with Minerva on a stretcher floating next to her. Severus watched in concern as Poppy placed his colleague on the empty bed between Potter and himself.

"Severus, it's all right, I'm fine," Minerva mumbled, before she thanked Poppy, who spelled a potion into her system.

"You're welcome, Minerva. Lie down and rest. This time, I'm going to keep you here until you're fully recovered and your fever is completely gone," Severus heard Poppy reply in a stern voice, before she turned to him as he let out a few harsh coughs. "Easy Severus," she said in a much softer voice and gently helped him to sit up, so he could breathe easier.

"Thank you Poppy," he croaked. "What happened?"

"Minerva was hit by a de-aging potion Mr. Weasley brewed. She is now thirty years old but fortunately has all of her memories," Poppy explained shortly, just when the Headmaster stormed into the hospital wing, closely followed by the youngest male Weasley.

"Weasley, get out!" Severus shouted hoarsely, ending up in another coughing fit, while Pomfrey told Dumbledore what had happened.

"Are you all right, Professor McGonagall?" Potter suddenly croaked.

"I'm fine," Minerva quickly reassured him, although it didn't sound very convincing.

"I'll go and brew the antidote for Minerva," Severus mumbled, trying to ignore the dizziness that overcame him as he tried to get up.

Suddenly, Poppy stood in front of him. "Young man, you're going nowhere," she said in a no-nonsense voice, pointing her wand at him. "If I may remind you, you're ill with the flu and have a fever of forty degrees. Apart from that, we have to ask Minerva if she even wants to take an antidote at all. Since she has all of her memories, it's not too bad to be thirty again now, is it, Minnie?"

"I don't know, ask me later," Minerva replied hoarsely, before she succumbed to the sleeping draught Pomfrey had just spelled into her system.

All of a sudden, Severus felt much better and threw the Mediwitch a grateful look, knowing that she must have spelled his potions straight into him. He slept for a few hours, before he woke up when Pomona entered the hospital wing and shouted for Poppy.

"Poppy, can you tell me exactly what to do, so I can clean up the Potions classroom? Since the last class is cancelled, I could use the time to clean up."

'_She should know better than to shout around the hospital wing, waking everyone up_,' Severus thought in annoyance.

"I'll come with you, Pomona," Poppy replied. "It's fairly quiet today." She came over to Severus' bed, giving him a sharp look. "Severus, if anyone is looking for me, I'm in the Potions classroom. Don't you dare set a foot out of your bed," she added sternly.

Severus merely glared back at the Healer. A few minutes after the two witches had left the hospital wing, know-it-all Granger came in.

"Hello Professor, how are you, and how are Professor McGonagall and Harry?" she queried in a soft voice.

"If we were better, we wouldn't be here," Severus couldn't help sneering at the child. "Weasley, the dunderhead, apparently managed to de-age your Head of House. She is forty years younger than before."

Granger slapped her hand against her mouth to hide a gasp, before she looked at Minerva in obvious amazement. "She really looks young."

"Ms. Granger, how bad is the Potions classroom?" Severus enquired, causing the girl to think for a moment.

"I don't think it's bad," she finally replied. "I cast the Evanesco spell on all the cauldrons except for Ron's, they just have to be cleaned out and put away, but I didn't know the spells." She looked at her wrist watch, smirking. "I'd suppose that Madam Pomfrey will be away for about an hour. But I won't disturb you any longer, Professor. You look as if you could need some rest." With that she stepped over to Potter's bed and placed a pile of parchments, probably her notes, and a chocolate frog on his night table, before she hurriedly left the hospital wing.

'_She is too clever for her own good and knew exactly when to come_,' Severus thought, while he drifted back to sleep, only to be woken up a few minutes later when Potter seemed to be captured in another feverish nightmare about his uncle. Severus slowly dragged himself out of his bed and sat down on the edge of Potter's bed to comfort the boy.

"It's all right, Harry. Your uncle isn't here, and you're safe at Hogwarts," he told the child in a soothing voice, causing Potter to go back to a peaceful sleep. Severus stood up to return to his own bed, when he noticed that Minerva had woken up. He sat down on the edge of her bed, giving her a sharp look. "How are you feeling, Minerva?" he croaked, inefficiently trying to suppress a shiver.

"Go back to bed, Severus," Minerva instructed him hoarsely.

"It's all right Minerva," he replied, "Poppy went with Pomona to clean my classroom. According to Ms. Granger, who sneaked in to see if you were all right a few minutes ago, it should take at least an hour." He gently moved an errand strand of hair from her forehead, frowning. "You feel as hot as my own hand. I'm sorry that you had a setback."

'_She looks beautiful like this_,' he thought, feeling extremely attracted by the younger self of his favourite colleague. '_I'd appreciate if she stayed that age. She's two years younger than I. I've always loved her, but it wasn't right with the age difference between us_.'

"It felt so good to sleep in my own bed for a few hours," Minerva replied huskily, unconsciously leaning into his touch.

"You look gorgeous, Minerva," Severus said in amazement as he studied her flushed face. "I'd like it if you stayed like this," he added in his soft silky voice.

Minerva seemed to blush deeply, although it was hardly noticeable under her flushed cheeks. She smiled back at him, causing Severus to gently caress her cheeks. Very hesitantly she extended a hand to his face, looking up with her glassy green eyes that felt so near when Severus leaned down to her and adjusted his lips to hers, pulling her into a long and heated kiss. Only when he couldn't resist the urge to cough any longer they parted, and Severus ended up in a coughing fit, causing Minerva to worriedly pull her bed covers over, so they covered him as well, although he was still sitting on the edge of the bed.

As soon as he had calmed down, Severus leaned down once more, pulling Minerva into another passionate kiss, glad that she seemed to feel as comfortable with it as himself. However, all of a sudden, Poppy's strict voice disturbed them, causing Minerva and Severus to pull apart, startled.

"What do you think you're doing? Severus, get back to bed this instant, before I feel inclined to use a sticking charm."

"Easy Minerva, don't let yourself get upset," Severus whispered to Minerva, before he grudgingly obeyed, unconsciously sighing in relief when his head hit the pillow.

The three patients in the hospital wing spent most of the evening drifting in and out of sleep, but at some stage Severus reached for his wand and spelled his own bed right next to Minerva's, so he could cuddle her close even if she was fast asleep.

When Poppy came to check on them before she retired to bed, she smirked at the sight of her two colleagues huddled against each other. She pulled the white curtains around their beds to give them some privacy, before she said to Severus, who had awoken when he heard her disapproving muttering as she checked on Minerva, "Congratulations Severus, I always imagined the two of you a cute pair if not for the enormous age difference. Maybe you should award Mr. Weasley a few House points."

None of them noticed the Headmaster quietly step out of the shadows and unobtrusively leave the hospital wing with an amused smile on his face, happily sucking on a lemon drop.

_

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tbc…_

_Thanks to Maritime Stars for beta-ing. Thank you for your kind reviews. _

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	10. Poppy's Seventh Day of Classes

**1****0 – Poppy's Seventh Day of Classes – by Maritime Stars**

_Maritime Stars__ was so kind and wrote this chapter for my writing challenge to fit into my story. Please enjoy!_

* * *

When Poppy grumpily rolled out of bed and finished dressing, she immediately went to check on her patients. Humming to herself, she crossed the doorway into her office and proceeded to the main hospital wing. While she walked, she reviewed the patients that were currently on bed rest: Severus, the worst off of the three was probably in for a day of sleeping as was Harry. As a result of their longtime friendship, Poppy knew that the patient she probably was going to have the most trouble with was definitely Minerva.

Sure enough, when she walked into the Hospital Wing about an hour before breakfast, Harry and Severus were peacefully sleeping and Minerva's bed was empty. Muttering to herself, and not realizing she had an audience, Poppy walked over to Harry to begin checking him over.

"Madam Pomfrey, what's wrong?" Potter suddenly asked in a quiet but hoarse voice as the Mediwitch approached his bed, "You seem very upset this morning."

'_Maybe he wasn't asleep as I thought. I must remember to silently mutter,' _Poppy scolded herself_, _before responding to Potter's question. She simultaneously ran a scan of him.

"Professor McGonagall released herself in spite of still being sick," she replied angrily, before taking a deep breath to calm herself down, "I won't be surprised if she is back tonight suffering from a setback, especially if she insists on teaching a full day of classes."

The truth was that it wasn't the first time Minerva had pulled this stunt on her. The Medi-Witch knew that as soon as Minerva felt like she was "better" she was likely to weasel her way out of bed. There were definitely times when her long-time friend and colleague resembled much more of a Slytherin than a Gryffindor.

Finishing up with Mr. Potter, she was surprised when he opened his mouth and asked, "Madame Pomfrey, how long do I have to stay here? Can't I go back to my dormitory, please? I promise…"

Taking a quick glance over towards Severus, who also was about to protest, her emotions finally boiled over and she began to lecture her two patients sternly.

"No Harry, your condition hasn't improved at all since you came here. You can't expect me to release you when you're running a fever of nearly forty degrees." She huffed in annoyance, before she continued her rant, "And you, Severus, are as bad as Mr. Potter. So don't even open your mouth to ask me when you can leave. Both of you are going to stay here at least over the weekend."

The only reason she only spent one minute lecturing them was because the Headmaster's voice came from the Floo, calling her to the staffroom.

'_Let me guess, Minerva showed herself at the staff meeting and shocked everyone,'_ she thought to herself as she walked into her office and flooed to the staff room. "Yes, Albus?" she queried when she had stepped through the Floo on the other side.

"Did you know that Minerva had left the hospital wing and plans on almost a full day of classes today?" Albus asked, watching his Mediwitch's face for her reaction.

"I noticed her bed was empty immediately. You can bet that as soon as I get her back in the Hospital Wing that I will set up an alarm to notify me as soon as she steps out of the Hospital Wing," she fumed.

"Is it likely that she might collapse when she is teaching? How is her condition?" Professor Sprout chimed in.

"It certainly is possible that she would collapse, she is still very weak. If she gets through the full day of teaching, I am going to need all of your help to persuade her to come back to the Hospital Wing. I am definitely keeping Mr. Potter and Severus through the weekend. Thank you for telling me, Albus," she said, before once again stepping through the Floo and back to her domain. When she arrived back in the Hospital Wing, she went back to original task of administering potions to Severus and Harry, her angry muttering increasing in volume without her realizing it.

"Madame Pomfrey!" a squeaky voice called from the end of the hospital wing, and she looked up to find Neville Longbottom in the Hospital Wing, and he quickly explained what happened in the greenhouses.

Sighing to herself, she grabbed her medical kit and ran out of the hospital wing, Neville on her heels.

They arrived at the greenhouses to find that Professor Sprout had dismissed the rest of the class, leaving just Nott and Weasley on the floor, both moaning in pain and covered in green boils.

"Pomona, what did these two get into?"

"Well, it appears as though a fist fight broke out --," the kindly professor started before she was interrupted.

"He started it!"

"He lied! He started it!"

"It wasn't my fault, he kept insulting me"

"That is enough!" Professor Sprout screamed at the two boys, "Madam Pomfrey was kind enough to come down here to treat you two, so I suggest you keep your trouble-making mouths shut. Understood?"

The two boys finally agreed on something and both muttered subdued "Yes, ma'am."

"As I was saying, it was the Tibetan turnip that we were replanting, they touched the leaves," the Professor Sprout finished.

"Alright, I have the general rash suppressant potion here, that should work nicely, correct?" the Mediwitch confirmed with the Herbology Professor. Upon seeing her nod, she pulled a couple of phials out of her pouch and handed one to each of the boys. "Drink this, if you feel unusual or the rash comes back, I expect that you two will have enough brains to come to the hospital wing," the Mediwitch ordered sternly.

From behind her, Professor Sprout also said, "Detention for a month with Mr. Filch, I hope he can teach you how to behave!" The Herbology teacher sent the two mischief makers out of her greenhouses before thanking Poppy. She went into the greenhouse to fix the plants before lunch.

Poppy returned to the Hospital Wing, noting that both of her patients were now resting comfortably. For a little while she sat in her office and updated some charts, before noticing that it was time to attempt to feed her patients. She called the hospital wing's house elf and asked for two bowls of broth.

"Severus, wake up. You need to eat some soup," she said quietly as she gently shook the Potions Master.

"I'm not hungry," he mumbled in his sleep before curling up tighter into a ball.

"Severus," she responded a little louder.

"Fine! I'm awake," he growled at her.

"Eat, try at least," she begged, walking over to Harry next.

"Harry, dear, you need to eat something," she repeated the same process with her next patient, except he was a little more cooperative.

"Okay," he said, as he rubbed his eyes and she helped him sit up.

She levitated the two bowls of chicken noodle soup over to the two, and glared at them as they protested about not wanting to eat it or not being hungry.

"Eat or I will force-feed you," she warned the two after they both had put down their spoons after only a bite each.

"Madam Pomfrey!" another frantic second year voice called, saving the two from having to eat any more soup.

'_How much trouble can one grade of students get into in one day?"_ Poppy muttered silently.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Professor McGonagall," he began as Poppy began to mentally groan, "got hit with some of Weasley's potion. She is lying on the floor and seems to be in pain."

Immediately Madam Pomfrey ran for her office fireplace, this time forgetting even her basic medical bag. When she reached the Potions classroom, she was grateful that there was at least one competent second year, Miss Granger.

"What happened?" the Mediwitch asked the girl sternly. While Poppy was grateful for the girl's help, she tended to be very serious until she knew exactly what was ailing her patient and how to fix it. Her wand was instantly out and performing a diagnostic scan.

"Professor McGonagall was hit by Ron's potion, but we don't know what it was," Hermione replied, panicking.

"It was obviously a de-aging potion," Poppy stated. "She is thirty years, three months, and thirteen days old. Minerva, do you remember what happened?" De-aging potions could go one of two ways: either the patient retained all of their memories and only their body was younger or all of their memories were erased and they were only left with the ones they had at the age they had been de-aged to.

"I was hit by Mr. Weasley's potion," Minerva groaned in obvious pain, "Everything hurts, Poppy, what happened?"

Thankfully it appeared that Minerva still all of her memories. "You were hit by a de-aging potion. Congratulations, you are now thirty years old. Fortunately, your brains seems to not be affected, considering that you remembered Mr. Weasley and his potion, so that you only lost your actual age and not your memories. You are in pain because you body is transforming into a body that is forty years younger."

Silently, Poppy added, '_Which means that you now are a young teacher, free from the pains of age. Lucky,' _before continuing on, "It is painful, especially because you are not completely recovered from the flu. Your temperature, which you were still running, has gone up because of your accident. I have to take you with me to the Hospital Wing." The Mediwitch did a quick glance around the classroom before asking, "Ms. Granger, could you please put a note at the door to cancel the remaining afternoon class? I have to come back to clean this room up during the weekend."

The girl did so with great care and efficently before offering to come help clean the classroom later on.

"Just leave everything as it is for the moment. Thank you for your offer; I might get back to you later on," Madam Pomfrey replied gently, conjuring a stretcher for Minerva at the same time. Carefully, and with practiced hands, Minerva was lifted onto the stretcher. Poppy whispered a couple of soothing reassurances to her friend, before levitating it beside her for the journey to the hospital wing.

When they reached, Poppy transferred her friend to the bed and quickly spelled a strong pain relieving potion into her friend's stomach. Minerva sighed in relief and Poppy felt satisfied that the Transfiguration teacher was comfortable for now, missing the interaction between the two professors.

"Thank you, Poppy," Minerva mumbled.

"You're welcome, Minerva. Lie down and rest. This time, I am going to keep you here until you are fully recovered and your fever is completely gone," Poppy replied sternly. Very softly, she cast a ward around the Hospital Wing that would alert her if any of her patients decided to leave the hospital wing. A quiet choking sound startled her and she spun around to see Severus struggling with a coughing fit from his position.

"Easy, Severus," she said kindly, helping him sit up so that he could breathe again.

After he expressed his gratitude, he asked what happened to Minerva. Despite knowing that Severus would immediately try to get out of bed and go find a cure for his colleague, she told him what had happened.

"Minerva was hit by a de-aging potion Mr. Weasley brewed. She is thirty years old but fortunately has all of her memories," Poppy explained, just when the Headmaster stormed into the hospital wing, closely followed by the famous Mr. Weasley himself. '_All of this activity in one day is giving me a headache_,' the Mediwitch commented to herself as she heard Severus shout at Mr. Weasley and the Headmaster ask for an explanation. As she explained what happened to the Headmaster, she helped Professor Snape sit up again because he was having yet another coughing fit.

Potter took this opportunity to ask, "Are you alright, Professor McGonagall?"

Minerva managed to get out "I'm fine," before closing her eyes in exhaustion.

'_Minnie certainly belongs in Gryffindor, the way she always puts on a brave face in front of the students. Well, I hope her pride isn't too badly injured by this accident,' _Poppy thought to herself before going back into lecture mode. "Apart from the fact that you're de-aged and are having a setback you're fine," Poppy smirked at her friend, while simultaneously raising her wand at Severus.

"Poppy, I am merely going to brew an antidote for Minerva. I shall be back within the hour," he said in the silkiest voice he could possibly muster while still being sick.

"Young man, you're going nowhere. If I may remind you, you're ill with the flu and have a fever of forty degrees. Apart from that, we have to ask Minerva if she even wants to take an antidote at all," she ordered sternly before turning to Minerva and saying in a kinder voice, "Since she has all of her memories, it's not too bad to be thirty again now, is it, Minnie?"

'_Ha, Severus! You might be the meanest teacher that stalks these halls; however, you are no match for me while you are ill. If only you would admit that you need to rest when you are ill, you would be in much better shape.'_

"I don't know, ask me later," Professor McGonagall replied to her friend. The Mediwitch immediately noticed how her friend's voice sounded a little weaker and definitely hoarser then before, a sure sign that she was suffering from a setback.

A few flicks of her wand and all of her patients were sleeping peacefully, thanks to the sleeping potions Madam Pomfrey had spelled directly into their stomachs. In addition to the sleeping potion, each patient also got another dose of fever reducer and decongestion draft.

A little while later, or so it seemed to Poppy who had been dozing in her office, Professor Sprout entered the Hospital Wing and yelled for Madam Pomfrey. She immediately ran out of her office only to discover that the Professor wanted as help in cleaning up the Potion Master's classroom. Checking over her patients briefly, she noted that Severus was awake and, judging from the grimace on his face, was not looking forward to checking on his classroom come Monday morning.

"I'll come with you, Pomona," Poppy replied. "It's fairly quiet today." She came over to Severus' bed, giving him a sharp look. "Severus, if anyone is looking for me, I'm in the Potions classroom. Don't you dare set a foot out of your bed," she added sternly.

Severus merely glared back at the Healer, but she raised her eyebrow at him as if to nonverbally warn him of the consequences of getting out of bed.

Together, the two women walked to the dungeon classroom, talking of mostly inconsequential things. "Well, it appears that Miss Granger has a head on her shoulders," when they reached the classroom and discovered that most of the cauldrons had already been cleaned out and it was just Mr. Weasley's cauldron that was still full of fouled potion. Just because the cauldrons were clean, however, doesn't mean that the classroom was.

The two women worked side by side for an hour casting spells left and right. Some of the work had to be done by hand, because some of the ingredients react badly when spells are cast upon them.

When they were done, Professor Sprout thanked Poppy and went on her way back to the greenhouses to check on the Tibetan turnips. Poppy wearily made her way back to the hospital wing, hoping that there would be no more incidents or emergencies for the rest of the day. When she reached the entrance, however, she was shocked by what she saw.

"What you are two doing? Severus, get back to bed this instant, before I feel inclined to use a sticking charm!" she said harshly to them, treating them as if they were two sixth year students instead of her colleagues and friends. After watching the two get settled back into their own beds, and checking to make sure that Minerva's condition hadn't worsened, Poppy retreated back to her office to finish the day's paperwork.

When Poppy came to check on them before she retired to bed, she smirked at the sight of her two colleagues huddled against each other. She pulled the white curtains around their beds to give them some privacy.

She said to Severus, whom had awoken when he heard her disapproving muttering as she checked on Minerva, "Congratulations Severus, I always imagined the two of you a cute pair if not for the enormous age difference. Maybe you should award Mr. Weasley a few House points."

_

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tbc…_

_Thank you so much, __Maritime Stars, for writing this chapter!_

_Thank you for your kind reviews! _

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	11. Hermione's Eighth Day of Classes

**1****1 – Hermione's Eighth Day of Classes – by Minerva McGonagall 62**

_Minerva McGonagall 62__ was so kind and wrote this chapter for my writing challenge to fit into my story. Please enjoy!_

* * *

Hermione groaned as she woke up noticing that her mind was clouded due to a tremendous headache. She turned to her right side, away from the rays of the blazing sunshine that entered the dormitory and closed her eyes, hoping to be able to sleep some more. However, she soon became aware of the fact that she was obviously ill. She was shivering violently under her warm covers, and her throat remained not only dry as it was when she woke up but became very sore during the next few hours.

Suddenly, Ginny's voice reached her ears. "Hermione, why are you still in bed. Is something wrong?"

"I think I'm ill," Hermione croaked and looked at her friend from feverish glassy eyes.

Ginny worriedly placed a hand on her forehead. "Wait a moment," she ordered her friend and fetched a thermometer as well as a wet towel from the bathroom. "Let me see if your fever is as high as it seems," she said and took her temperature. She gently wiped her flushed face while they were waiting. Taking the thermometer back Ginny let out a gasp. "Hermione, I have to take you to the hospital wing. You probably have the flu or something if you have such a high fever. Can you get up and walk with me?" she asked in concern.

Hermione slowly sat up and instantly felt dizzy. The two girls waited for a few minutes until the dizziness passed, and then they slowly walked to the hospital wing. By the time they reached the infirmary, Hermione felt absolutely dreadful. Ginny gently helped her into the bed just opposite of Harry's on the right side of the room, seeing that three beds on the left side were already occupied. Two of them were surrounded by a privacy screen, leaving Hermione to wonder why the beds, in which Professors Snape and McGonagall had been the day before, had one screen together.

'_That's probably only my fevered imagination_,' Hermione mused as she lay down, while Ginny ran to fetch Madam Pomfrey.

"Yes, you have the wizard's flu," Madam Pomfrey diagnosed after several waves of her wand and shooed Ginny out.

"No, wait, Ginny," Hermione croaked. "Can you bring me my book bag please? I have to do my Transfigurations assignment. Otherwise Professor McGonagall will take one thousand house points from Gryffindor." '_I can't even remember what the homework was_,' she thought desperately.

"You're delirious Ms. Granger," Madam Pomfrey said soothingly. "Professor McGonagall won't take house points because you're ill."

"Then can you please tell her that I have a fever of," she tiredly put a hand to her forehead, "three hundred degrees, and I'll do my homework tomorrow."

"Yes, I'll tell her that," Pomfrey replied and threw Ginny a sharp look. "You better leave if you don't want to come down with the flu as well, and you will not bring Ms. Granger any work to do."

From her half closed eyes, Hermione could see that Ginny nodded and left. The Mediwitch put two phials onto her night table and spelled the contents into her stomach, making her feel warm and drowsy.

"Can it be that I'm delirious?" Professor Snape's hoarse voice suddenly filled the room. "Or did know-it-all Granger indeed make it to the hospital wing with an ailment that causes her to miss classes?"

"Good morning to you too, Professor Snape," Hermione replied indignantly, surprised at how much it hurt to speak and how hoarse she sounded.

"Mione!" Harry spoke up. "What are you doing here?"

"She has the flu and needs absolute rest," Madam Pomfrey said sternly and pulled a privacy screen around her bed.

For the rest of the morning, Hermione remained in a half awake state, feeling absolutely awful and in a haze. Each time she tried to sit up dizziness overcame her making her lie down immediately after. Her fevered mind took in the whispered voices of Professors Snape and McGonagall as well as Madam Pomfrey's firm tone. However, their words didn't make sense, and finally she fell asleep.

"_Ms. Granger, I'm very disappointed in you. You didn't do your homework during the last two weeks and you failed all of your tests in all your subjects," Professor McGonagall told her strictly. "I'm afraid that you'll have to serve detention with Professor Snape and scrub dirty cauldrons for the next week."_

"_But I'm ill. I have three thousand degrees of fever," Hermione protested weakly, beginning to sob when the professor let out a snort._

"_You aren't ill, you're merely lazy and I'm very disappointed. You should not hang out with Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley anymore. They have a bad influence on you," McGonagall said firmly. "Two thousand points from Gryffindor."_

"Oh no, please don't take points, Professor," Hermione yelled, finally waking up by her own loud voice.

'_Oh no_,' she groaned. '_That was only a dream, thank God, but everyone must have heard me yell_.'

A mere minute later, a small figure sat down on the edge of her bed. It was Harry.

"Hey, Mione, are you all right? Did you have a bad dream?" he asked softly and gently moved the wet towel from her forehead to wipe her flushed face.

"I failed all my tests and Professor McGonagall took thousands of house points from us and forbade me to hang out with you and Ron anymore," Hermione sobbed into her friend's chest.

"What is this entire ruckus about?" Professor Snape's hissing voice could be heard, making Hermione cry even more.

"It's all right, Sev. I'll go and see what's wrong," Professor McGonagall croaked, and an instant later she appeared at Hermione's side. "Harry, go back to bed, you're still ill," she said firmly, lowering herself to sit next to Hermione.

'_She sounds very hoarse too_,' Hermione thought worriedly, while Harry filled the professor in about her dream.

McGonagall sighed and turned back to her, whispering, "Hermione, everything is all right. You don't have to study while you're ill. Don't make yourself so upset. You're only having such dreams because your fever is so high. Try to rest and get better."

"Minerva, what are you doing out of bed?" Madam Pomfrey's infuriated voice broke the relative silence of the hospital wing.

McGonagall threw Hermione a guilty look and replied croakily, "I'm sorry Poppy, but you obviously forgot to inform my student that being ill doesn't warrant house points being taken."

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione mumbled as the teacher stood up and held on to the night table, apparently feeling dizzy.

"Come on, Minerva, let me take you back to bed," Pomfrey said gently and steadied the teacher as she let her back to her own bed. An instant later she was back at Hermione's side, waving her wand. "I'll give you something," she promised and bustled away.

Hermione's eyes were already drooping again when the Mediwitch came back with a small phial. The potion she spelled into her stomach caused her to drift into a dreamless sleep. '_Too tired to study_,' was her last thought as she dozed off, unaware of what was going to happen around her during the rest of the day.

_

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tbc…_

_Thank you so much, __Minerva McGonagall 62, for writing this chapter!_

_Thank you, sjrodgers 108 for your kind review! Due to the lack of interest in this story the next chapter (Severus' POV of day eight) will be the last chapter! _

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	12. Severus' Eighth Day of Classes

**12 – Severus' Eighth Day of Classes**

Severus woke up due to a coughing fit, noticing that Minerva was peacefully sleeping in his arms, causing the events of the previous day to come to the front of his mind. He happily cuddled her close, noticing in concern that she was burning up.

"Good morning, Severus," Poppy said from behind, apparently having him heard try to cough his lungs out. She waved her wand over him, clucking disapprovingly.

"You're not getting better at all, Severus," she scolded him lightly. "Your fever came down a few points, but it's still very high, and let me tell you if I catch you again with as much as a foot out of your bed, I will..."

"It's all right, Poppy, I won't," Severus hoarsely interrupted her tirade, noticing that Minerva stirred at her friend's upset voice. "Good morning, Minerva. How're you feeling?" he queried in a soft silky voice.

"Horrible," Minerva whispered, nestling deeper into his embrace. "I had a strange dream," she began hesitantly, only to interrupt herself. "No, apparently it wasn't a dream, seeing that I'm lying in your arms."

"It was better than any dream could have been," Severus said softly, leaning over to pull her into a passionate kiss.

"Congratulations, Minnie, Severus," Poppy whispered, smirking as she spelled their potions into their systems, causing her patients to drift off to a much needed Healing sleep.

Severus' foggy mind slowly drifted back to consciousness when the second year's know-it-all Granger's voice penetrated his ears.

"Can you bring me my book bag please? I have to do my Transfigurations assignment. Otherwise Professor McGonagall will take one thousand house points from Gryffindor."

"You're delirious Ms. Granger," Madam Pomfrey said soothingly. "Professor McGonagall won't take house points because you're ill."

"Then can you please tell her that I have a fever of three hundred degrees, and I'll do my homework tomorrow."

"Yes, I'll tell her that," Pomfrey replied and threw another student out, who probably had brought Granger into the hospital wing.

"Can it be that I'm delirious?" Severus couldn't help speaking up hoarsely. "Or did know-it-all Granger indeed make it to the hospital wing with an ailment that causes her to miss classes?"

"Good morning to you too, Professor Snape," Granger replied, sounding as hoarse as himself.

"Mione!" Potter felt the need to speak up. "What are you doing here?"

"She has the flu and needs absolute rest," Madam Pomfrey admonished him sternly, causing the insufferable dunderhead to shut up.

During the next few hours, Severus drifted in and out of sleep, just like Minerva, who cuddled with him but was obviously feeling awful. Sometimes, they exchanged a few words and a kiss, mostly after being pulled out of sleep by their coughing, but soon fell asleep again.

It was late in the afternoon when they were jerked out of sleep by Granger's yelling. "Oh no, please don't take points, Professor," Granger shouted, sounding not only hoarse but terrified.

Severus pulled his wand out from under his pillow, waving it at the privacy screen so that they could see what was happening outside all the while nobody could look through to their side. '_Poppy seems not to be around_,' he mused, calmingly stroking Minerva's flushed cheeks and preventing her from sitting up as he watched Potter sneak behind the screen around Granger's bed.

"Hey, Mione, are you all right? Did you have a bad dream?" Potter asked, causing Granger to burst into tears.

"I failed all my tests and Professor McGonagall took thousands of house points from us and forbade me to hang out with you and Ron anymore."

"What is this entire ruckus about?" Severus hissed angrily, noticing in concern that Minerva became very upset and tried to sit up in spite of the shivers that shook her body.

"It's all right, Sev. I'll go and see what's wrong," Minerva croaked, dragging herself over to her students. "Harry, go back to bed, you're still ill," she said firmly, before she talked to the girl in a soothing voice. "Hermione, everything is all right. You don't have to study while you're ill. Don't make yourself so upset. You're only having such dreams because your fever is so high. Try to rest and get better."

Severus couldn't help smirking as Potter dashed back to his own bed, collapsing onto the bed in exhaustion due to the sudden sprint provoked by Poppy's appearance in her office. The Healer bustled through the door into the wing and came over right to him, noticing Minerva's empty bed.

"Minerva, what are you doing out of bed?" Her infuriated voice caused his headache to flare painfully.

"I'm sorry Poppy, but you obviously forgot to inform my student that being ill doesn't warrant house points being taken," Minerva croaked, causing Poppy to head over to Granger's bed, clucking disapprovingly.

"Come on, Minerva, let me take you back to bed," she said gently and steadied the teacher as she led her back to her own bed.

Minerva let herself sink onto her bed, and a small smile played on her lips as Severus pulled her into his arms. "Easy Minerva, everything is all right," he whispered soothingly, causing her half open unfocused eyes to search his own glassy ones, while his mouth carefully captured hers in a loving kiss.

Suddenly, Minerva pulled away, coughing harshly. "Severus, I'm sorry, but I have to get up and look after the students. Lockhart transfigured all my Gryffindors into toads," she mumbled, "and Miss Granger told me that Gryffindor lost three thousand house points, and I have to make sure that our Quidditch team knows they have to play tomorrow. I must play Seeker for them, because Harry is ill, and I have to teach my classes. Who knows what Albus is going to teach the students..."

"Easy, Minerva, you're ill and don't have to do anything. Gryffindor didn't lose house points, and Lockhart isn't at Hogwarts anymore. You're feverish and imagine things that aren't true. Everything is all right," Severus interrupted her in a soothing voice, giving her a concerned look.

"I don't feel so good," she mumbled, nestling deeper into his pyjamas as a violent shiver shook her body.

Severus cuddled her close, before he raised his voice and asked hoarsely, "Poppy, could you bring me a wet cloth please? Otherwise, I'm going to get one by myself."

He couldn't hear the Mediwitch bustling around and was just pondering if he should let Minerva go off his arms and get up when Potter came around their screen, handing him a wet towel that felt icy cool to his hands.

"Here, Professor, Madam Pomfrey was called away," the student croaked, holding on to the night table as he spoke.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," Severus croaked between gritted teeth and began to gently bathe Minerva's flushed face, noticing from the corner of his eyes that Potter slowly dragged himself back from their beds, suddenly beginning to dash away when the sound of the doors being opened penetrated his ears.

"Ouch," Severus heard only seconds later, and as he turned his eyes away from Minerva he saw that Potter had obviously crashed right into Hagrid, who was just carrying someone into the hospital wing. '_Who is that_?' Severus mused as he heard Hagrid apologize in his loud dark voice.

"Let me just put Professor Lupin on a bed, and then I'll help you up, Harry," Hagrid said, sounding strangely hoarse, causing Severus to watch as Hagrid picked Potter up and placed him back onto his bed right in time, before Poppy re-entered the hospital wing with a stretcher floating in front of her.

"Hagrid, wait a moment and let me check on you, before you leave," Poppy instructed the half giant as she put Pomona into the bed next to Severus and turned back to Hagrid, waving her wand at him. "How can you run around with such a high fever? Make yourself comfortable on the bed next to Pomona."

"I put Remus in the bed next to Hermione," Hagrid croaked as he complied and lay down.

Severus watched as the Mediwitch checked on her new patients and spelled potions into their stomachs, causing them to fall asleep right away. When Poppy finally left the hospital wing again, Severus turned his eyes back to Minerva. '_Even if she's ill she looks beautiful_,' he thought as he brushed a few errand strands of hair from her forehead, noticing that she was watching him from her unfocused eyes.

"I love you," she mumbled in a hardly audible weak voice, causing him to pull her into his arms again and carefully capture her mouth with his lips.

"I love you, too, Minerva, and I won't let you go," he whispered into her ear.

"Am I delirious, or did you just imply..." she breathed but was interrupted when he gently laid his index finger on her lips.

"You're not delirious, my dear, and I'd like you to become my wife," he whispered, softly stroking her flushed cheeks.

"I'd love that," Minerva replied, leaning happily into his soft touch that felt very soothing to her burning skin even if his hands weren't much cooler than her own.

'_I must be hallucinating,_' Severus thought as Sibyll Trelawney's voice penetrated his ear. "And I'll tell you now; they'll have a huge wedding here in the castle and will live forever happily together."

"I'm glad to hear that, Sibyll," Poppy replied gently as she ushered her colleague to one of the few empty beds in the room. "Unfortunately, you'll be the next on bed rest here," she croaked, kindly tucking the professor in.

"Is Poppy all right?" Minerva whispered, worriedly trying to lift her head to get a glance at Poppy, who was leaning heavily against Hermione's bed.

"I don't think so," Severus replied in concern. "I'll go and check on her, Minerva. I'll be back in a minute." He slowly pried Minerva out of his embrace and dragged himself over to the Healer's office, where Poppy was sitting at her desk with her head resting on her arms that lay on the table.

"Poppy, are you ill as well?" Severus queried, noticing in concern that the cheek visible to him was deeply flushed and her half open eyes looked glazed over.

"I'm fine, Severus, go back to bed," Poppy replied weakly, causing Severus to frown.

He opened a drawer of her desk, pulling out a Muggle thermometer, and crouched in front of the Healer. "Open up," he ordered his colleague, surprised when she indeed complied and opened her mouth for a moment so he could stuck the thermometer in, noticing that a violent shiver shook her body at the cold sensation.

'_I'll have to look after her and the others. Thank God that I brewed enough of the flu potion_,' he mused as he threw a horrified look at the digital display that showed a very high number. He gently helped the Healer up and led her to an empty bed, noticing that only one bed was left since the room was full with his sick colleagues. '_Everyone is here except for Albus_,' he realized, terrified.

Severus had just returned to his bed, sighing in relief as his achy head came to rest on his pillow, when the Headmaster's voice could be heard throughout the school, sounding very congested.

"My dear students, there won't be any classes for the next few days, because all of your teachers have come down with the wizard's flu. We will inform you as soon as classes will be resumed."

"See? You're not missing anything, my dear," Severus whispered as he pulled Minerva in a long and passionate kiss.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Suddenly, Severus felt a shiver run through his body and wearily noticed that he found himself in a bathtub filled with cold water. Minerva and Poppy were sitting at each side of him, watching him in concern.

"His fever is slowly coming down," Poppy said, sounding relieved.

"And he seems to become alert," Minerva croaked, giving him a sharp look.

"What happened?" Severus whispered in confusion as Poppy transfigured the bathtub back to his bed and carefully tucked him in.

Minerva sighed as she cuddled close to him and gently wiped his flushed face with a cool cloth. "You were delirious during the last few hours. You even asked me to become your wife," she whispered as she nestled deeper into his embrace.

"Was I?" Severus croaked in disbelief, remaining pensive for a moment, before he queried in a small voice, "And what would you reply if neither of us was delirious?"

"Yes, of course," Minerva replied hoarsely, "I love you, Severus."

"I love you too," he gave back, pulling her into a passionate kiss.

**The End**

_

* * *

Well, that was another story, which I intended as a one-shot and noticed that it became longer and longer! Thank you to those, who were so kind and gave me their support by reviewing, and thanks to the brilliant authors__ ILoveHarryPotterWithAllMyHeart, sevissick, Maritime Stars, and Minerva McGonagall 62, who wrote chapters for this story by replying to my writing challenge for January!_

_As you know, I'm not a native speaker of English; please excuse my mistakes or tell me, so that I can correct them._

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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